Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Shortly before 5.20am on September 2nd 2024, at least eight civilians – including a child – were killed and 17 others were injured when an alleged Israeli airstrike hit a popular market and pastry stand in front of Al Fakhoura School in Jabalia Refugee Camp in North Gaza, where a number of people were sheltering at the time of the strike.
Shortly after the strike, Safa News reported deaths and injuries had resulted. Later that day Safa News reported eight deaths, identifying the victims as 60-year-old Nasser Hilmi al-Jamali, 50-year-old Mahmoud al-Manama, 23-year-old Rashad Abu Sakhila, Ayman Abu al-Yakhani, Muhammad Abdul Karim Abu al-Yakhani, Nada Abu al-Yakhani and two unidentified people. They were later identified as Bilal Musa and Ahmed Sameh al-Najjar. Though further information regarding those injured was not specified, Twitter/X user @sharafs77833740 alleged that ‘17’ had been wounded. Facebook user Suleiman Al-Anini alleged ‘a number of serious injuries’. Journalist Abby Martin shared that her ‘friend’s baby nephew, who was scheduled for vaccination today, is now internally bleeding from shrapnel in his spine/lungs’.
Friends and family, writing on social media, mourned the death of their loved ones. Facebook user Hani Al Iman mourned Nasser’s death in a post which expressed ‘great sadness and pain’ at saying farewell. In a photo, he is depicted wearing a black and white striped shirt smiling gently against the backdrop of the sea. His daughter, Amany Nasser, wrote a heartfelt message on Facebook describing her pride at being the daughter of a ‘generous’ man of ‘good reputation and good character’.
In a Facebook post Alian Ahmed mourned the death of Muhammad, Nada and Ayman Abu al-Yakhani who suffered from ‘hunger and poverty’ in the ‘miserable north’ before their deaths. Ayan is described as having a ‘sweet laugh’. In a photo he is depicted as a young man wearing a grey cap and blue jacket. His sister Nada is described as a ‘generous princess who succeeded in high school’ making her friends and family ‘proud’. The comment reads ‘the war was approaching a year and I heard the names of many martyrs who are dear to my heart and I thought I would not shed a tear, but Muhammad, my love, was completely different’.
Rashad Abu Sakhila was a 23 year old artist and poet. In a photo shared on social media he is depicted posing for the upcoming TV series ‘The Fist of Freemen’, wearing a keffiyeh around his neck and a camouflage jacket with the Palestinian flag on the sleeve. The Jerusalem Post described the 2022 TV series as a ‘sort of prelude or teaser to the October 7th massacre’. However, general affiliation with Hamas or representation in the television series in this context does not necessarily imply participation in Hamas’ armed wing, or more general militant activity, therefore Rashad has been counted as a civilian. This will be updated should further information come to light.
In another photo Rashad is depicted holding his glasses in one hand, smiling toward the camera in a bright blue shirt. Twitter/X account ‘Gaza Notice’ shared a screenshot of Rashad’s final social media post, where he asked for “waterproof tents and leather tents to protect us from the [rain]” and thanked those working to bring such supplies into Gaza. In an opinion piece in the Middle East Eye penned by Rashad’s cousin, Ahmed Najar, Ahmed lauded Rashad as ‘the youngest poet in Palestine to publish a book of poetry, an extraordinary accomplishment. His compilation, titled Letters of the Earth, captured the essence of our homeland’s struggles and dreams’. Rashad, Ahmed emphasised, ‘spoke out against the senselessness of war. He yearned for peace – not just for Palestinians, but for all peoples facing oppression and caught in endless cycles of violence’. Further, Ahmed stressed, Rashad ‘had no political or military affiliations, stating on Facebook: “I respect all parties and I don’t belong to any of them”‘. Speaking to the claim echoed by The Jerusalem Post, Ahmed wrote that ‘Rashad’s art was not an endorsement of any ideology, but rather a reflection of life – a way to convey the complex realities of our existence’.
Facebook user Ahmed Al Hanawi identified Bilal Musa, describing him as a ‘pure human’ and one of the ‘best young men’ he has known. In a photo attached to the post he is depicted as a young man wearing a dark grey jumper and a black backpack smiling toward the camera. In another Facebook post by user Ibrahim Mohamed, the comment reads ‘Goodbye, my love. Goodbye, Bilal. I miss you a lot. May God have mercy on you and accept you.’
Facebook user Doaa Afana mourned the death of his ‘kind’ uncle Mahmoud al-Manama. A doctor, Mahmoud was the Director of the Central Laboratory Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and is pictured in many shared photographs in his lab coat. In another picture he is depicted in a blue suit in front of a display of images depicting Palestinian history.
Facebook user Abdullah Yasser Mansour mourned the death of Ahmed Sameh al-Najjar, his cousin’s son who he described as a ‘child with a beautiful face’.
In a video released by Al Jazeera Channel, a group of people gather in the market area, bloodied bodies are on the floor in the middle of the market. The ground is bloodied and burnt from the impact of the bombing. At least one source referred to the school as being an UNRWA facility.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
The incident occured at approximately 5:00 am local time.
The victims were named as:
Family members (3)
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes (2) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention a residential building being struck in the vicinity of Al Fakhoura School (مدرسة الفاخورة) in the Jabalia refugee camp (مخيم جباليا). Analysing audio-visual material from sources, we have narrowed the location down to the following exact coordinates: 31.541677, 34.495647.
Summary
Sources (44) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (30) [ collapse]
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Source: Abu Sameh Abu Mashaikh -
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Source: Zeinab Brakat -
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Source: Zeinab Brakat -
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Source: The medicine is gone -
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Source: Hani Al Imam -
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Source: Mahmoud Al-Awadiya -
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Source: Alian Ahmad -
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Source: Dt Öşămä Ë Ãbşĩ -
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Source: Dt Öşămä Ë Ãbşĩ -
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Source: Ahmed Al Hanawi -
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Source: Abdullah Yasser Mansour -
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Source: Mohammed Musa Al-Ashqar -
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Source: Mohammed Musa Al-Ashqar -
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Source: Mohammed Musa Al-Ashqar -
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Source: Mohammed Musa Al-Ashqar -
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Source: Amany Nasser -
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Source: @AbujomaaGaza -
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Source: @QudsNen -
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Source: @gazanotice -
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Source: The Jerusalem Post -
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Source: The Jerusalem Post