On October 10 at night or on October 11 at dawn, alleged Israeli strikes on civilian homes in Bureij refugee camp, near the Dabas Junction, in central Gaza, killed between 33 to 34 civilians, including at least 12 children*, eight women and 13 men.

Among the victims, local sources documented five entire family units allegedly killed in their homes. One female doctor was also among those reportedly killed in the attack. Some sources reported that her daughter was killed, while others reported that she was severely injured.

One social media account, which identified at least 30 civilians killed, indicated that “many martyrs” were still trapped under the rubble and that in the “massacre in Bureij Camp entire families have been erased from the civil registry*”. No estimations of the total number of injured civilians were provided by local sources.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces. The Ministry of Health in Gaza stated that the strikes were conducted on October 10 at night, while other sources reported the attack at dawn on October 11.

Sources reported that several members of eight different family units were killed in the incident. At least five entire family units – including at least a father, mother, and their children – were reported killed. They are identified below:

1-Mohamed Bassam El-Sherbiny, owner of El-Sherbiny library “The dear moon” (“Al-Qamar Al-Ghali”), his wife, and his children Hassan Mohamed Bassam El-Sherbiny and Rama Mohamed Bassam El-Sherbiny. Sources did not provide the name of Mohamed’s wife. Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists indicate that Hassan was seven years old and Rama was four.
2-Ahmed Bassam El-Sherbiny, his wife and children. Sources did not provide the name of Ahmed’s wife or his children, nor the number of children, nor the age of the victims.
3-Youssef Bassam El-Sherbiny, his wife and children. Sources did not provide the name of Youssef’s wife or his children, nor the age of the victims.
4-Abu Alaa Hussein, his wife and children. Sources did not provide the name of Alaa’s wife or his children, nor the age of the victims.
5-One local social media account documented the death of eight members of the same family unit, among which three were children, all reportedly killed in the strikes that hit civilian houses in the refugee camp, including one man named Ashraf Muhammad Daabes “Abu Dia”, and his children. Ashraf’s cousin on Facebook identified Ashraf’s sons as Diaa Ashraf Daabes, Ahmed Ashraf Daabes, and Muhammad Ashraf Daabes but did not indicate their age. Airwars has reconciled their names with Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which show them as 19, 18 and 16 years old, respectively. Other sources said that Ashraf’s wife was also killed in the blast, without providing her name. Ashraf’s cousin added that the three children of his other cousin Ayman Daabes “Abu Ahmed” were also killed at dawn after his aunt “Um Talaat Daabes” house was allegedly targeted by Israeli bombing and the civilians were at home. He identified the children killed as Ahmed Ayman Daabes, Muhammad Ayman Daabes, and Bakr Ayman Daabes. According to Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, Ayman’s sons were 23, 11 and nine years old, respectively.

Local reporting also added that a man called Bassam El-Sherbiny “Abu Mohamad”  and his wife, whose name was not provided, were also killed. One local source specified Bassam’s body was recovered from “the Bureij massacre”. It is possible that Bassam El-Sherbiny Abu Mohamad could be Mohamad Bassam Al-Sherbiny’s father, though sources did not explicitly specify that they were related.

The Gaza Ministry of Health (MoH) announced the death of their colleague Dr. Cyrine Mohammad Al-Attar. She was described by Jordan Hospital Facebook Page (Al-Urdun Hospital) as ” a graduate of the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics” there, “as part of the ongoing medical training and education program at the hospital.” A post from Nasser Y Mattar also identified Dr. Cyrine as “a women’s expert at the UNRW relief agency and a university professor in the Gaza Strip”. Dr Osaid Alser, on Twitter, who described Cyrine as his “former OBGYN attending during med school”, said “the loss is huge”, adding that she was sleeping in her home when her house was bombed. One Facebook source commented her death saying “May God have mercy on you, Dr. Cyrine Al-Attar, and on all our martyrs in this brutal war on our people in Gaza.” MoH and Al-Urdun Hospital also announced that Cyrine’s daughter 5-year-old Zeina was killed in the same attack – but another source, Dr Sameer Abu Samra on Facebook, said that the daughter was “severely injured”. The same source added “I offer my condolences to my friend and colleague Dr. Wajdi Jarbou for the martyrdom of his wife and colleague Dr. Cyrine Al-Attar”.

A man identified as Youssef Ramadan and his wife were also reportedly killed. The name of Youssef’s wife was not provided by sources.

The other civilians killed were identified as:
–Ahmed Mayouf
–Mohamed Ramadan
–Ahmed Ramadan
–Ramadan Ramadan
Local sources initially reported that six civilians were killed in the bombing of the “Ramadan”‘s home and its surrounding, while another one affirmed that ten bodies of “martyrs” were discovered in that area. It was unclear from the sources whether Yousser Ramadan, Mohamad Ramadan, Ahmed Ramadan and Ramadan Ramadan were related.

*Though Airwars was unable to find the exact age of the children mentioned, we have assumed that all references to the family’s children are of those under the age of 18 given related images of young children. When sources reported that “children” of one family unit were killed, without indicating how many children, Airwars estimated the number of children killed as “2”.

Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which include national ID numbers. Since October 26, 2023 the MoH has released six lists, along with an additional list of medical professionals, which was released on September 17, 2024. Airwars is matching individuals to the first list where their name appeared. In regard to this incident, all but one of the names are matched to the first ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ list, which was released on October 26, 2023. In the case of Youssef Bassam El-Sherbiny, the name has been matched to the sixth ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ list, which was released on September 16, 2024.