Between 15:30 and 17:20 on Friday October 13th 2023, at least 12 civilians, including three women and three children, were killed in alleged Israeli airstrikes and/or artillery strikes. The strikes hit a convoy of cars as citizens fled northern Gaza after instructions from the Israeli military to evacuate. Some reports said the number of civilians killed might be more than 70, with at least 150 and up to more than 200 civilians reported injured, including many displaced women, children and elderly people. Airwars was able to identify at least 12 victims killed by name.

According to an investigation carried out by the Financial Times and Airwars, the deadly explosions took place between the State Roundabout and the Kuwait Roundabout near the Bassem Aliwa Steel Company building. The incident occurred the day after Israel told more than one million civilians living in northern Gaza to flee south for their own safety.

A forensic review of the visual material by the FT/Airwars found that the explosions did not hit the truck carrying a large group of Palestinian civilians directly but a group of cars nearby, with the shrapnel likely responsible for the deaths of the majority of the fleeing civilians – who were seated on an uncovered truck.

Israel denied striking the street and suggested Hamas may have planted explosive devices along the evacuation route. Military analysts consulted by the Financial Times and Airwars said the shrapnel appeared consistent with an Israeli strike.

Palestine Alarabiya and Saddam Souad shared gruesome videos on Facebook showing the direct aftermath of the attack – burned cars and dead bodies lying on the ground amidst blood. Financial Times and Airwars Investigations wrote that videos of the aftermath verified by the media showed 12 bodies of men, women and children in Salah-ad-Din street, which Israel later designated a “safe route”. The media outlet also wrote that there were probably two explosions, one of which damaged an ambulance as it attempted to leave the scene with some of the injured.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed that “large numbers” of dead and wounded, including women and children, had arrived at Al-Shifa Hospital.

Initially Almamlakah TV reported about 40 civilians killed and more than 150 civilians injured, but later the government media office spoke about a higher death toll of 70 victims killed and more than 200 injured in its press statement. Shehab Agency reported about the “death of more than 70 Palestinians and the injury of hundreds.”

Many victims of this attack remained unidentified. Palestinian Media Center shared the images of its crews performing funeral prayers for the unidentified deceased Palestinian civilians over the bodies wrapped in white cloth stained with blood.

Based on Facebook testimonies by family members, Airwars has identified 12 victims killed in the strike.

The deadly attack took the life of the wife of journalist Sameh Murad and injured a number of his family members. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate extended its condolences to Sameh’s family, who worked with Al Arabiya channel and remained at work to cover the events of the subsequent Israeli invasion of Al-Shifa Hospital.

The Amara family lost six family members, according to a Facebook post by Mahmoud Amara. A family relative Ahmad Amara shared that he lost his sisters, 24-year old Hanan Ayman Abdel Karim ‘Amara and 25-year old Safaa Hasan Muhammad ‘Amara, Hanan’s children and her fiance, and her fiance’s brother – 26-year old Adham Ayman Muhammad ‘Amara. Abu Mohammed Alfaran mourned the death of his cousins, Adham Amara and a 25-year old Muhammad Ayman Muhammad ‘Amara. Two young men were featured in the pictures attached to his Facebook post.

Youssef Atef Dabbour Asad mourned the death of his father, Dr. Mohammad Atef Dabour Asad, Youssef’s brother Mohammad Dabbour Asad and Youssef’s nephew, 15-year-old Atef Dabbour Asad.

Sharing images and videos of Dr. Mohammad, Mohammad, and Atef, Youssef wrote that “the desperate cries and fears of the children, afraid of dying in their homes” “compelled [his] father and brother to flee with the displaced, wandering the streets of Gaza in search of a safe place.” Youssef wrote that his brother had said that he would never leave Gaza, the only migration he would make would be to heaven.

Youssef also detailed how Dr. Mohammad, Mohammad, and Atef were killed. He wrote that “They were martyred due to a brutal Israeli bombardment on a crowd of displaced people who were told to leave their homes towards the south of Gaza. Upon their arrival, they faced treacherous shells from Israel.” He went on to say that Mohammad was killed first, and when Dr. Mohammad went to see him, he too was killed. As a result, Airwars has recorded this incident as a potential double-tap strike. However, not all sources referred to multiple strikes. As such, this will be updated should additional information become available.

A post shared by Dr. Ahmed Baroud Abu Bassem, Dr. Mohammad’s neighbor. Dr. Ahmed wrote that Dr. Mohammad, Mohammad, Atef were killed, and other family members injured, when their car was hit by an artillery shell. A video shared by Youssef showed two cars on a road, engulfed in flames, with at least five other cars stopped and potentially damaged.

Dr. Mohammad was remembered by many online as a well-respected doctor, who specialised in pathology at Al-Shifa Medical Complex. Dr. Mohammad was also the head of the pathology department at Islamic University. Dr. Mohammad also spoke to how he ultimately chose to specialise, in pathology, saying that perhaps the main reason was the “scarcity of specialization in the Gaza Strip”.

Another video, originally posted by the Palestinian Medical Forum – Student Branch’s Facebook account in September 2022, and reposted by Youssef after the strike, features Dr. Mohammad giving an eight-minute ‘doctor talk’. In the video, Dr. Mohammad details his education and how he came to be the head of the pathology department at the university.

Youssef and others remembered 15-year-old Atef as an aspiring football star, whose “dreams of representing Palestine in football” were shattered.

Among the victims of the attack was also “the polite young man”, Ismail Muhammad Al-Taweel, remembered in a tribute by Taweel and Shaar Ffamily on Facebook.

There were also victims killed from the Lanoush family. A heartfelt Facebook testimony by Lanoush Lanoush said”: “My uncle, my cousin, his wife, and my cousin were martyred, and their two sons were seriously injured, and they are in intensive care on their way to Salah al-Din.” However, Airwars did not find names and additional information about these victims.

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

Where sources identified the belligerent, most sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces. In particular, BBC news and the Financial Times reported that based on video footage, the explosions were most likely caused by strikes launched by the Israeli military.

Financial Times carried out its own investigation in conjunction with Airwars, quoting a munition expert Desmond Travers who had investigated attacks across the globe including in Gaza. According to him, the attack was most probably carried out with a “precision-guided shrapnel-delivered missile”. He added: “There could have been several of them to create the effect I am seeing on the videos. If that is the case, then the attack would have been carried out by the Israelis.” However, Travers did not exclude the possibility of an improvised explosive device (IED) on the site being used. A spokesperson for the Israeli military, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, however, denied the allegations and stated that “Hamas is behind this, is using the death of Palestinian civilians for its vile political purposes”.

According to the investigation carried out by Al-Arabi Open Source Investigations Unit, the attack happened around three o’clock in the afternoon. The BBC investigation ascertained that the incident happened between 15:30 and 17:20 local time.