Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0161

Incident date

October 12, 2023

Location

النصيرات الشارع الرئيسي, Nuseirat main street, Deir Al Balah, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.452826, 34.385844 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Street level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Around 11:30 in the morning of Thursday, October 12th, 2023, an alleged Israeli strike hit commercial stores located on the main street in the Nuseirat camp in the Gaza Strip, killing four men and wounding others.

As a result of the strike several shops caught on fire, while a car belonging to the old Al-Banna bakery was damaged. Palestine News wrote about “great devastation in the area”, sharing an image of the destroyed buildings and rubble.

33-year old Tamer Nizar Khalid Al-Afash who was killed in the attack was described as “a wise martyr” in a post by a user called Muhammed, and a “study companion” in a Twitter post by user @MustafAbuZir. He was also remembered in a Facebook tribute by Nusaairat alongside an image of a young man. A Facebook user Ahmed mentioned that the late Tamer was his sister’s husband. Tamer’s cousin Muamen posted a video from the funeral of the young man.

29-year old Muhammad Khaled Zaidan Mishmish was remembered by his “brother and a friend” Aniis, who wrote that “You hurt us and made our hearts bloody. Your separation and quick departure pained us” and shared the images of the young and smiling Muhammad. His death was also mourned by Abd Elrahman and Emad in their Facebook testimonies.

Among the victims of the attack was also a 30-year old Muhammad Sami Abdel Fattah Fadel whose death was mourned in a Facebook testimony by Muhamed. Muhamed noted that Muhammad Fadel was killed in the attack on the Nuseirat market and attached an image of a smiling young bearded man.

A fourth victim, a young man named Salama Abu Mallouh, was remembered in the tributes by Facebook users Nusaairat and Yahya who also shared his images.

The exact number of those wounded in the incident was not specified by sources, and has therefore been accounted for by Airwars as at least two civilians in line with our methodology.

Where sources identified the belligerent, the strike was attributed to the Israeli military. Where possible, Airwars has matched names with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of nearly 7000 victims’ names and ID numbers released on October 26th

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 incident occured at approximately 11:30 am local time.

The victims were named as:

Muhammad Mishmish محمد مشمش
29 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 804900736
Tamer Nizar Khalid Al-Afash تامر العفش
33 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 802709782
Salama Abu Mallouh سالم أبو ملوح
Age unknown male killed
Muhammad Fadel محمد فاضل
30 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 804687671

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the main street of Nuseirat (النصيرات الشارع الرئيسي) to the west of Deir al Balah, for which the generic coordinates are: 31.452826, 34.385844. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

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Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    IDP or refugee camp
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4
  • (4 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • 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.
  • Impact
    Food
    Impact on services or infrastructure relating to education, health or food supply. See methodology note for details.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (17) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (20) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @MustafAbuZir
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: HlaPalsetineNews
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Almantiqa
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Almantiqa
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Almantiqa
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Almantiqa
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Yasser
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Yasser
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Yasser
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Aniis
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Aniis
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Aniis
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Emad
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Nusaairat
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Ahmed
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Nusaairat
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Yahya
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Muhamed
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Muhamed
  • 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
  • Civilian infrastructure
    IDP or refugee camp
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4
  • (4 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • 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.
  • Impact
    Food
    Impact on services or infrastructure relating to education, health or food supply. See methodology note for details.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (17) [ collapse]