Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Around 11:25 in the morning on Friday, October 13th, 2023, at least 14 identified civilians from the Safi and Kaloub families, including at least four women and nine children, were killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Safi family home in the Tal al-Zaatar area in the northern Gaza Strip. A 37-year old Inshirah Ismail Musa Safi was killed in this deadly attack alongside her five children.
Nabd news initially reported that “3 martyrs were recovered from the Safi family home”. Shehab Agency later stated that the number of civilians killed in the bombing had risen to six, with Qana24, Sawt al Watan News and RT News later updating the civilian death toll to nine, and multiple sources on social media corroborating the same. Based on the testimonies by family members, Airwars identified 14 family members of the Safi and Kaloub families who were killed.
A 63-year-old Abdulkarim Hasan Safi was killed alongside his 62-year-old wife Lubna Abdulaziz Ahmad Safi and their possible grandchildren, an 18-year old girl Sondos Abdulkarim Hasan Safi, a 15-year-old boy Majdi Abdulkarim Hasan Safi, and a 9-year-old boy Zakariya Abdulkarim Hasan Safi. Salsabeel Abdulkraim Hasan Safi and Omar Abdulkarim Hasan Safi have been also listed as victims, but their age is unknown.
A Facebook user Mohammed Al Zanin Abu Rafat mourned the death of a 29-year old man Younis Abdulkarimel Qader Safi and the rest of his family members. He shared the pictures of the young bearded man in a white T-shirt along with a graphic picture of the Younis’s lifeless body in a white cloth stained with blood. The brother-in-law of Younis, Anwar Zomlot, also mourned his death in a Facebook post, sharing a black and white picture of Younis.
Toha Monir, possibly the wife of Younis, also posted a black and white image of her late husband and a prayer.
Nisreen al-Silawi, a relative of the Safi family, mourned the death of her aunt, a 37-year old Inshirah Ismail Musa Safi, and Inshirah’s five children, among them three sons: an 18-year old Abdel Muti Hassan Abdulkarim Safi, a 15-year old Muhammad Hassan Abdulkarim Safi, and a 12-year old Ahmed Hassan Abdulkarim Safi, and two daughters: a 17-year old Afnan Hassan Abdulkarim Safi, and a 9-year old Tala Hassan Abdulkarim Safi. She also indicated that the family was survived by Inshirah’s husband Hassan Safi, saying “prayers for patience and solace for my uncle Hassan Safi on the loss of his family.” Nisreen also shared some images of Inshirah’s children killed in the strike, including an image of a young smiling boy in a Chanel T-shirt.
Another relative, Mohammed Silawi, wrote in his Facebook post that his “sister and her children, the Safi family, are martyrs/May God have mercy on you, my beloved ones.” He attached an image of Insirah and Hassan and their five smiling children.
Other sources on social media, Mohammed Kalloub and Abu Nedal, listed the names of four additional victims of the bombing belonging to Kaloub family – 48 year old Hayat Kaloub, Hayat’s daughters, a 17-year old Shatha Omar Saber Kaloub (Kulub) and Amal Kaloub, and Hayat’s grandson Muhammad Jadallah (age unknown). It is unclear whether they were relatives of the Safi family present in the home at the time of the bombing, as Mohammed Kalloub also mourned the “martyrs of my cousin Safi family.” They also shared the images of two women in black hijabs, among them one being Hayat Kaloub, and a young boy Muhammad pictured against the sea background.
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.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
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 11:25 am local time.
The victims were named as:
Family members (4)
Family members (14)
Summary
Sources (21) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (16) [ collapse]
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Source: Mohammed Kalloub facebook -
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Source: Mohammed Kalloub facebook -
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Source: Moahmmed Al Zanin ABu Rafat facebook -
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Source: Moahmmed Al Zanin ABu Rafat facebook -
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Source: Anwar Zomlot facebook -
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Source: Nisreen Alsilawi facebook -
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Source: Nisreen Alsilawi facebook -
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Source: Nisreen Alsilawi facebook -
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Source: Nisreen Alsilawi facebook -
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Source: Nisreen Alsilawi facebook -
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Source: Nisreen Alsilawi facebook -
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Source: Nisreen Alsilawi facebook -
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Source: Toha Monir facebook -
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Source: Mohamemd Silawi facebook -
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Source: Abu Nedal facebook -
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Source: Abu Nedal facebook
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the neighbourhood of Tal al Zaatar (تل الزعتر) to the east of Jabalia (جباليا). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to find boundaries for the neighbourhood and to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Tal al Zaatar are: 31.533112, 34.504583.