Geolocation
Airwars assessment
On Sunday, October 15th 2023, between seven and eight members of the Zidan family, including two women and four children, were killed, and dozens of others were injured in an alleged Israeli airstrike on the house of the Zidan family behind the al-Aqsa hospital in the Wadi Sheikh Daoud area in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip.
Safa news initially reported that two were killed, and others were injured in the bombing, while Alghad TV, and Alray agency stated that the bodies of four victims had been recovered. Alray and the Palestine Post also mentioned “a number” of injuries. A source on Twitter/X, Ajmu Basher, shared images of the destroyed home, alleging that there were “dozens of martyred and wounded”.
Surviving relatives of the family shared the names of the victims killed. Maha mourned the death of his brother 42 year old Hatem Khalil Zidan, Hatem’s wife, 36 year old Fatima Jibril Sarsour (Umm Hamza), their daughter 7 year old Ward Hatem Zidan, Hatem’s brother Muhammed’s wife, 44 year old Sabreen Al-Khatib, their daughters: 11 year old Sama Muhammad Zidan and 7 year old Mira Muhammad Zidan, and their son Khalil Muhammad Zidan. Mohammed and Yosef Zidan, cousins of Hatem, stated that the home was bombed without warning resulting in “many martyrs and injuries”, with Yosef adding that there were a total of eight killed, “and the search continues for missing people under the rubble.”
Rania Zidan, sister of Hatem and Muhammad, posted a heartbreaking tribute saying “My moon the martyr, my dear and caring brother/You hurt my heart, you broke my back, and I gave up my tricks, leaving you is hard, I swear/May God give my heart patience for your departure and your family and the family of my brother Muhammad.”
Hatem was an employee with the Palestine Cellular Communications Company Jawwal, and his colleagues mourned his death on social media, with Mohanad Mahmoud saying “May God have mercy on you, forgive you, and let you enter his spacious paradise, our colleague and friend, the martyr Hatem Zidane”. Abu Jaser posted: “How beautiful you are.. martyr Colleague, friend and brother.. Hatem Zidane.. to the gardens of eternity”; Abdallah Daglas posted: “Our colleague Hatem Zidane was martyred as a result of the barbaric bombing of Gaza. The last thing he wrote on his page was as if he was mourning himself.” The last post by Hatem before his death was a day prior, on October 14th, and says “Shopping for our loved ones coffins/And we continue to struggle on our own/In a world where the oppressors and worshipers are insulting/Who else but you, O Lord, is our safety.”
Alghad TV identified the location of the family home as behind Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, though it is unclear from sources if the hospital itself was damaged.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces. A post by Yosef Zidan specified that the strike occurred without warning.
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.
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 (7)
Summary
Sources (19) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (26) [ collapse]
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Source: @ajmubasher -
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Source: @ajmubasher -
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Source: @ajmubasher -
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Source: @ajmubasher -
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Source: @PalN -
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Source: @PalN -
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Source: @PalN -
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Source: @PalN -
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Source: @Mohammed_Zidan7 -
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Source: @Mohammed_Zidan7 -
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Source: Maha -
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Source: Maha -
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Source: Maha -
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Source: Maha -
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Source: Maha -
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Source: Yosef.zidane -
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Source: Yosef.zidane -
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Source: Yosef.zidane -
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Source: Yosef.zidane -
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Source: Atef -
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Source: Abdallah.daglas. -
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Source: Abdallah.daglas. -
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Source: Sara -
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Source: Mohanad.w.mahmoud -
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Source: Mohanad.w.mahmoud -
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Source: Abu jaser
Geolocation notes (2) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention the area of Wadi Sheikh Daoud (وادي الشيخ داود) in Deir al Balah (دير البلح). Analysing audio-visual material from sources, we have narrowed the location down to the following exact coordinates: 31.420054, 34.353917.