Geolocation
Airwars assessment
On the morning of Wednesday, October 11th 2023, at least 14 civilian members of the Al-Kurd family, including five women and six children, were killed and at least 16 family members were injured in an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Al-Kurd family house located in the Al Hakar area in the city of Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip.
The reports came as the intense bombing was happening in the city of Deir al-Balah. Wafa News and Nabd News reported about three killed civilians and a number of injuries. Jaber Post reported that at 10.13 am the search finished and recovered 13 bodies from the rubble. The post corroborated that the airstrike destroyed the Al-Kurd family home, killing the family members inside or trapping them under the ruins leading to life-altering injuries.
Social media testimonies by family relatives and friends helped to identify the names of 14 family members of the Al-Kurd family who were killed. In particular, Mustafa Al-Kurd wrote the list of some deceased Al-Kurd family members and shared their images, including images of very small children.
40-year-old Tayseer Saeed Al-Kurd (Abu Muhammad) was killed while his younger brother Fawzi Saeed Al-Kurd was injured. Fawzi’s brother Ahmad Al-Kurd wrote about his injury and that he was treated at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah. Yasser Alkurd wrote, “Please pray for my brothers Tayseer and Fawzi, my nephew Muhammad, my cousins, their daughters, and their children for recovery and safety.”
Tayseer’s sons, two-year-old Ahmed Tayseer Al-Kurd and Abdul Rahman Tayseer Al-Kurd were killed. The wife of Fawzi, 31-year-old Bushra Rafaat Ahmed Al-Kurd and their one-year-old daughter Julia Fawzi Saeed Al-Kurd were also killed.
Yasser Al-Kurd’s son, 13-year-old Abdul Rahman Yasser Saeed Al-Kurd was also among the victims killed in the deadly attack. Yasser wrote a Facebook tribute to his son, sharing numerous pictures together with him.
37-year-old Mahmoud Atef Abdel Qadir Al-Kurd (Abu Yazar) was killed along with his 38-year-old brother Muhammad Atef Abdel Qadir Al-Kurd, his 56-year-old mother Haja Intizar Aziz (Al-Kurd) (Umm Muhammad) and his nephew, son of Muhammad, 11-year-old Yusuf Muhammad Atef Al-Kurd. Zaher Hamad Qashlan wrote about their death and added that their house was attacked without warning. Ahmad Alkurd wrote that the late Yusuf was beautiful and kind, and everybody who saw him loved him.
Muhammad Atef Abdel Qadir Al-Kurd was the Director of the Telecommunications Exhibition in Deir Al-Balah. Zaher Hamad Qashlan wrote his tribute to the late Muhammad, sharing an image of the middle-aged man in a black sports suit standing on the seashore with beads in his hands. His brother Mahmoud was the Director of the Telecommunications Exhibition in Jabalia and Nusairat. Deir Al Balah’s Facebook account added a picture of the dead Mahmoud Al-Kurd while his friend Mohammed Yasser Alnabaheen wrote “The eyes shed tears and the heart grieves, and I am saddened by your departure, Mahmoud…May God bless you and make you dwell in His spacious gardens.”
The brothers’ mother, Umm Muhammad, was mourned by her nephew Abdullah Aziz in a post on Facebook. He posted a picture of his aunt smiling, wearing a beige hijab and traditional clothing.
The death of 22-year-old woman Manar (Minar) Atef Abdul Qadir Al-Kurd was mourned by her friend Lina Tawash who wrote: “Manar Al-Kurd, our childhood friend, our neighbor, and my beloved, has passed away to God’s mercy…. I used to come to you and you used to pick all the flowers for me and tell me how similar you were? …. the meeting place is Paradise, my sister 💔😭😭😭😭😭🇵🇸”
The airstrike took the lives of two young children, apparently brothers – two-year-old Yazid Ahmed Atef Al-Kurd and an infant, just one-week-old Zaid Ahmed Atef Al-Kurd, while their father, Ahmed Atef Al-Kurd, was reportedly injured.
63-year-old woman Fatima Ahmed Muhammad al-Kurd (Al-Mabhouh) Umm Al-Abd and 26-year-old Rahima Al-Kurd (Shaheen) were also killed in the attack, but further details about them were not provided.
Facebook user Abu Alazayaeh provided the names of the 16 injured family members: Ahmed Atef Al-Kurd, Amal Rifaat Al-Kurd, Alaa Mustafa Al-Kurd, Hala Muhammad Al-Kurd, Zain Mahmoud Al-Kurd, Maryam Yasser Al-Kurd, Juri Fawzi Al-Kurd, Karim Yasser Al-Kurd, Saeed Fawzi Al-Kurd, Karam Muhammad Al-Kurd, Mustafa Fawzi Al-Kurd, Muhammad Tayseer Al-Kurd, Ahmed Mustafa Al-Kurd, Mahmoud Al-Kurd, Alaa Refaat Al-Kurd, and Fawzi Saeed Al-Kurd.
Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.
Where sources identified the belligerents, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military.
The incident occured in the morning.
The victims were named as:
Family members (31)
Geolocation notes (3) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention a residential building being struck in the Al Hakar area (الحكر) in the town of Deir Al Balah (دير البلح). Analysing visual material from sources we have narrowed down the location to these exact coordinates: 31.407628, 34.346061.
Summary
Sources (17) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (52) [ collapse]
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