Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0187i

Incident date

October 13, 2023

Location

الزيتون, al Zaytoun, Gaza, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.485479, 34.444885 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On Friday, October 13, 2023, an alleged Israeli strike hit the al-Saafin family home and reportedly killed at least one person, 31-year-old engineer Ahmed Arif Amer al-Saafin, in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City. The home was in a residential area and near the Al-Dahshan bakery, east of Gaza City.

Many of Ahmed’s family members mourned him in Facebook posts, including his uncle Tareq Al Saafin and his cousin Mohammed Bashir. Both sources posted an image of Ahmed smiling, taken before the incident.

Ahmed Arif Amer al-Saafin has been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of nearly 7000 victims’ names and ID numbers released on October 26, 2023.

This incident likely took place around midnight local time on October 12-13, 2023 as this is when the earliest report of the incident, a Facebook post by Musab Abdelkarim, was published.

All sources that identified a belligerent attributed the strike to the Israeli military.

The incident occured around midnight.

The victims were named as:

Ahmad Arif Amer al-Saafin أحمد عارف عامر السعافين
31 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 410086508

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the neighbourhood of al Zaytoun (الزيتون) to the east of Gaza city (غزة). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for al Zaytoun are: 31.485479, 34.444885.

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Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • 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.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (10) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Saeeb Al Safin facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mustafa Al-safeen facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mohammed Bashir facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Tareq.safeen

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
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • 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.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (10) [ collapse]