Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0239

Incident date

October 15, 2023

Location

السطر الشرقي, al Satar al Sharqi, Khan Younis, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.361143, 34.331208 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On the evening of Sunday, 15 October 2023, five civilian members of the Al-Agha family, all men, were killed in an alleged Israeli strike in the vicinity of their family’s residence in Al-Satar, Al-Sharqi neighbourhood in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. The sources differed in the description of the nature of the deadly strike. According to Sufyan Akkad’s Facebook post, the victims were attacked by a reconnaissance missile near their house, while Bilal Agha Abu Basem reported that they were assassinated by drones while they were in Harat Al-Ghawanmeh Street in the Al-Satar Al-Sharqi area. Elagha.net reported, however, that the Al-Agha family members were killed in an airstrike.

Hatem Saeed Ghanem Al-Agha, a 61-year old father and his sons – 28-year old Saji Hatem Saeed Al-Agha, and 21-year old Sajid Hatem Saeed Al-Agha – were all reported to have been killed in the attack. Two further family members, 39-year old Fadi Saadi Wasif Al-Agha and 34-year old Hamad Abdul Hamid Muhammad Al-Agha were also killed in the reported strike. The house where the strike occurred belonged to the late Hajj Younis Khamis Al-Agha, according to the Al-Agha family Facebook. Bilal Agha Abu Basem reported that a total of 27 members of the Al-Agha family had been killed up until that point in the conflict.

Multiple posts via Facebook and Twitter from mourning family and friends wrote about the loss of the five family members. Moheeb Elagha mourned in his heartfelt testimony on Facebook the death of his uncle Hamad Abdel Hamid Al-Agha, his father’s uncle Hatem Saeed Al-Agha and his two sons, Saji and Sajid, and friend and lifelong companion Fadi Saadi Al-Agha, writing “By God, the affliction is great, and the eyes shed tears and the heart grieves, and we are saddened by your loss.” He also attached the pictures of the deceased relatives – one of them, a young man, was pictured as a graduate of the Palestine University, and an elderly man was shown in a white taqiyah.

A number of media sources such as Shehab News Agency reported the funeral of the family, and Euronews Arabic posted a photo reportedly showing the funeral and a number of Palestinians gathered to say funeral prayers. Additionally, a video was posted by El-Agha.Net, reporting to show the funeral gathering. El-Agha.Net also reported that prayers were held at 10:00 the following Monday 16th October at Jaafar Mosque in west Khan Yunis and that the family members were buried at Sheikh Omri cemetery.

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 strike to the Israeli military.

The incident occured in the evening.

The victims were named as:

Family members (5)

Hatem Saeed Ghanem Al-Agha حاتم سعيد غانم الأغا
61 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 955590773
Saji Hatem Saeed Ghanem Al-Agha ساجي حاتم سعيد غانم الأغا
27 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 400957387
Sajid Hatem Saeed Ghanem Al Agha ساجد حاتم سعيد غانم الأغا
21 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 407961002
Fadi Saadi Wasfi Ghanem Al-Agha فادي سعدي وصفي غانم الأغا
39 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 410136063
Hamad Abdul Hamid Muhammad Hamdan Al-Agha حمد عبدالحميد محمد حمدان الأغا
34 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 800767477

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the area of al Satar al Sharqi (السطر الشرقي) to the north of Khan Younis (خان يونس). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for al Satar al Sharqi are: 31.361143, 34.331208.

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Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    5
  • (5 men)
  • 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 (13) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (17) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Descendants of the late Faluji Agha
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Descendants of the late Faluji Agha
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Descendants of the late Faluji Agha
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Descendants of the late Faluji Agha
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Descendants of the late Faluji Agha
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Euronews Arabic
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sufyan Akkad
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Majestic Agha
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Majestic Agha
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Majestic Agha
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Majestic Agha
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Majestic Agha
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @ShehabAgency
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @quds_feed/
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @quds_feed/
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @quds_feed/
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    5
  • (5 men)
  • 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 (13) [ collapse]