Geolocation
Airwars assessment
At least 15 people, including at least one child and four women, one of whom was pregnant, were killed and 15 others were injured in an alleged Israeli airstrike on the al-Ela residence in Bani Suhila in Khan Younis on October 13th, 2023.
The Rakab family posted the names of 14 civilians killed during the destruction of the “Abu Al-Ela family home, Al-Raqab in Bani Suhaila”, in addition to 15 others injured.
Many of those killed were from the al-Ela, al-Raqab family. Based on names, it seems likely that Khaled Ismail Abu al-Ala, al-Raqab (56) was killed along with his wife “Umm Hassan” (likely Hala Mahmoud Abu al-Ela, al-Raqab, 46) and their children Ahmed Khaled Abu al-Ela, al-Raqab (26), Hassan Khaled Ismail Abu al-Ala al-Raqab (30), Karim Khaled Abu al-Ela, al-Raqab, Taqi Khaled Abu al-Ela, al-Raqab (23) and Rahaf Khaled Ismail Abu al-Ela, al-Raqab (9). The Rakab family Facebook referred to Hassan and Ahmed as “the family’s young son” and to Khaled as a pharmacist. A post from Ismeil Farid quoted the last thing that Ahmed Khaled Abu al-Ela wrote before he was killed, which translates to “We won’t forgive or forget those who did not help us”. The Bani Suhayla martyrs school posted a memorial for Rahaf who was a student there.
Another family member of the al-Ela family was killed. Mohammed Abu Al-Ela posted a memorial for his father 53 year old Majed Hussein Abu al-Ela, al-Raqab of whom he said “the pain of your separation is that I did not have the honor of saying goodbye to you and taking a farewell look.”
Others not from the al-Ela, al-Raqab family were also killed in the same bombing: Alaa Mahmoud Abu Saada, Zuhair Muhammad Fadl Abu Shab (21), Ihab Muhammad Hosni Abu Youssef (30), Muhammad Iyad Baraka (23), Asmaa Abdul Karim Abu Salah (21), Arif Abdul Salam Arif al-Qara (23), and Wasfiya Muhammad Abdel Aziz Abu Tir (70) were all killed.
Um elzoz posted a memorial for “the apple of my eye and my beloved” Zuhair Muhammad Fadl Abu Shab who they described as “Everyone knows you and bears witness that you are the righteous and honest son. May God grant us all patience in your separation.”
The Abu Salah family posted a memorial to Asmaa Abdul Karim Abu Salah who “rose to the top of the house of the Abu Al-Ala family to join the hundreds of moons who preceded her.”
The Alqara family posted a memorial to the “good young man” Arif Abdul Salam Arif al-Qara. It should be noted that Arif Abdul Salam Arif al-Qara is possibly related to civilians listed in incident ISPT0187C, who share the same surname.
A tweet from diabmashni reported that the bodies of 11 of those killed were taken to Nasser Hospital after the attack. A video posted by Mustafa shows the shrouded body of “the mother and her fetus” indicating that at least one of the women killed was pregnant.
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 belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces. PNRB News stated that no warning had been given before the strike.
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 local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (8)
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (28) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (24) [ collapse]
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Alqara family facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Rakab family facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Ismeil Farid facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Mohammed Abu ALula facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Rakab family facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Absan Al-kabira facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Rakab family facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Abdulkarim Abu Ayed facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Mohammed Abu Al-ula facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Rakab family facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Bani Suhayla martyrs school facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Mohammed Al-khateeb facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Mohammed Al-khateeb facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Mohammed Al-khateeb facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Mohammed Al-khateeb facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Mohammed Al-khateeb facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Abu Ali Ngr facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Abu Ali Ngr facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Abu Ali Ngr facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Abu Ali Ngr facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Mohammed Abu Eid Facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Um elzoz facebook -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Bani Suheila (بني سهيلا), for which the generic coordinates are: 31.342130, 34.325343. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.