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Incident Date
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Geolocation
Airwars Assessment
On October 12th 2023, it was reported that at least nine civilians, including at least one young child, were killed and up to ten others injured after an alleged airstrike on the Al-Zimili family home, east of Rafah. Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
Manal Al-Zamili was reportedly killed alongside her three sons Nael Atef Al-Zamili, Muhammad Atef Al-Zammili, and Saleh Atef Al-Zamili, and her daughter Amal Atef Al-Zamili. Nael was reportedly trapped under the rubble of the house, while Saleh reportedly died of injuries sustained in the bombing some time after the attack. His death was announced on October 20th by Safa.ps.
Manal’s husband was said to have been killed in the 2014 war after a bomb hit the ambulance he was driving.
Manal’s daughter Amal was killed alongside her young son (name unknown). Suhaila Al-Zamili (Al-Najjar) was also reportedly killed, the relationship to the family is unknown. The brothers Wael Nasser (Sheikh Eid) and Waseem Nasser (Sheikh Eid) were also killed in the alleged airstrike.
Initial reports stated that there were four martyrs and a number wounded. A Facebook post by Muhammad Al-Jamal added that 10 people had been injured. Although some sources quoted three had been martyred, nine names were provided. Where names were mentioned, Airwars was able to find matching IDs in the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of names released on October 26th.
Abdullah Abu Nidal noted that the house was located behind the eastern cemetery, near the Al-Bahabsa Mosque.
On October 9th, 2024 the Airwars Investigations Unit, along with Sky News, published an investigation geolocating and matching airstrike footage released by the Israeli military with incidents in the Airwars archive. In total, Airwars’ team identified 17 strikes leading to civilian harm from the first month of the war, of which the Israeli military itself had published footage. This strike was among the 17. As such this incident has been reclassified as a declared Israeli strike, rather than a likely one.
Assessment Updates
Victims
Family members (9)
Key Information
Geolocation Notes
Reports of the incident mention the vicinity of Al Bahabsa Mosque (مسجد البحبسة) east of Rafah (رفح). Analysing audio-visual material from sources, we have narrowed the location down to the following exact coordinates: 31.266549, 34.261689. The Airwars team matched these exact coordinates to a screenshot taken at 0:12 of the strike video shared by the IDF to Twitter/X (see strike reports below).
Imagery: Hazem Sahlahiman (Dhib Al-Barr)
Imagery: IAFsite
