Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0124a

Incident date

October 11, 2023

Location

خان يونس, Khan Younis, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.346149, 34.303899 Note: The accuracy of this location is to City level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On Wednesday, October 11th 2023, an alleged Israeli airstrike hit the Abu Shab family house in the town of Khan Yunis, killing eight family members, including five women and three children, and injuring up to 15 other civilians. The owner of the house, Omar Abu Shab Abu Rifaat, was severely injured and remained in intensive care as of the 11th October. This incident is closely connected to another incident, ISPT0124, which reflects civilian fatalities in a neighbouring house in a strike on the same day.

A 43-year old Hala Suleiman Awadallah Abu Shab (Shabab) was killed together with her daughters, 20-year old Rana Raif Salman Abu Shab (Shabab) and 23-year old Shaima Raif Salman Abu Shab (Shabab), as well as Shaima’s small daughter. Other victims included 23-year old Alaa Omar Suleiman Abu Shab (Shabab), as well as the wife of Rifaat Omar Salman Abu Shab (her name was not indicated in testimonies), and her children, a one-year old son Amir Rifaat Omar Salman Abu Shab (Shabab) and a three-year old girl Nagham Refaat Omar Salman Abu Shab (Shabab). Mahmoud Abu Rahma posted pictures of these two small children who lost their lives in the attack on Facebook.

The victims’ relatives and friends – Fadi Abu Khater, Om Fathi Abu Shab, Dahir ABu Shab, and Mamhmoud Saqr mourned the death of their loved ones in the testimonies on Facebook. Rakab family expressed its deepest condolensces to its neighbours, Abu Shab family.

Describing the attack on the two family houses (Abu Shab and Al-Agha, the latter described in another incident – ISPT0124), the Shehab Agency correspondent wrote about up to 15 injured civilians, but later the Wafa agency reported about “injury of dozens”.

Airwars recorded the identified victims members of Al-Agha family in another incident, coded as ISPT0124. Though, as some sources only provided a total number of victims from both family houses, there might be some overlap between the estimated number of civilians injured recorded in this incident and in ISP0124. Airwars will update both assessments once new information is available.

Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.

Where a belligerent was identified, sources attributed the strike to Israeli forces. Sources report that the airstrike occurred without warning.

Due to the scale and urgency of Airwars’ assessment process, all images have been automatically uploaded to each assessment with the graphic filter applied to protect users. We have also included all images identified from the sources, which may also include any imagery of combatants.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (9)

Hala Suleiman Awadallah Abu Shab هالة سليمان عوض الله ابو شاب
43 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 905306841
Rana Raif Salman Abu Shab رنا رئيف سلمان ابو شاب
20 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 408991206
Shaima Raif Salman Abu Shab شيماء رئيف سلمان ابو شاب
23 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 406949693
Daughter of Shaima Raif Salman Abu Shab بنتها من عائلة الركاب
Child female killed
Alaa Omar Suleiman Abu Shab علاء عمر سليمان ابوشاب
23 years old female killed
Rifaat Omar Salman Abu Shab’s wife زوجة رفعت عمر سلمان ابوشاب و اطفالها
Adult female killed
Amir Rifaat Omar Salman Abu Shab امير رفعت عمر سلمان ابوشاب
1 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 445716533
Nagham Refaat Omar Salman Abu Shab نغم رفعت عمر سليمان ابوشاب
3 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 442360657
Omar Abu Shab Abu Rifaat
injured

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the city of Khan Younis (خان يونس), for which the generic coordinates are: 31.346149, 34.303899. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Infrastructure
    Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    8
  • (3 children5 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    15
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (16) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (11) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mohammed Wael facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mahmoud Abu Rahma facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Om Fathi Abu Shab facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Om Fathi Abu Shab facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Om Fathi Abu Shab facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Om Fathi Abu Shab facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Om Fathi Abu Shab facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Om Fathi Abu Shab facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Infrastructure
    Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    8
  • (3 children5 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    15
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (16) [ collapse]