At least 36 people were killed, including 17 children and 12 women, and at least four others were injured, including three children and a woman, after an alleged Israeli airstrike on a home on Abu Arif Street in the Deir Al Balah region of Gaza on the afternoon of October 14th, 2023. Most of those killed were members of the al-Ajrami and Jouda families. Two other people were killed and have been identified as a militant.
Al-Ghad reported that a total of 38 people were killed in the attack on the Jouda family home.
From the sources, 13 members of the Al-Ajrami family who were killed were identified. From the al-Ajrami family, 57 year old Dr. Ayed Atallah al-Ajrami (Abu Iyad) was killed, as was his wife 59 year old Samira al-Ajrami (Umm Iyad). 32 year old Lubna Ayed al-Ajrami was killed, along with her daughter, six year old Sham Muhammad Abu Obaid. Lubna’s sister Aya Ayed al-Ajrami was also killed with her daughter Nevin Muhammad al-Saati. Several other children were killed: seven year old Malik Muhammad al-Ajrami, their sibling five year old Bahaa Muhammad al-Ajrami, Amir Mahmoud al-Ajrami, eight/nine year old Ayed Iyad al-Ajrami, their sibling 13 year old Hala Iyad al-Ajrami, and six year old Zeina Ziad al-Ajrami. 32 year old Nadia Maher al-Rayes, the wife of Iyad (Ziad) al-Ajrami, was also killed, along with “her children”.
The deceased were remembered in multiple condolence posts on social media. Tamer al-Ajrami, a nephew, described Ayed as someone who “left his kind mark in everyone’s hearts” and “was a symbol of love and giving.” Salma el-Rayes, a cousin of Nadia al-Rayes, wrote that Nadia was a gifted engineer, who had once “won an award for her project to design an elevator for the disabled” and that she was survived by only her child. Images posted by Samer N Nabolsi appear to show Muhammad Al-Ajrami Abu Malik carrying the bodies of his children Malik and Bahaa.
According to Abdullah al-Ajrami, Ayed Atallah al-Ajrami and “fourteen martyrs from their sons, daughters and children” were killed while Ibrahim Melhem reported that 17 extended family members were killed. Anas Alamer Katrge added that “the rest of the family was seriously injured, and Aunt Jamila Talib Al-Amawi, wife of the martyr Abu Iyad Al-Ajrami, and the rest of the family are still in intensive care’. An image posted by Naser alshabat shows a deceased Lubna and “her nephew Zain” giving her a farewell look, while Zain looks to have an injury on his hand.
At least 20 members of the Jouda family were also killed, and their names were identified by the sources. Muhammed Abdulkader Jouda and his wife Samah Tayseer Fares Abu Joudeh (Ghannam) were killed with their sons Mustafa Jouda, Khaled Jouda, and Yosef Jouda (a militant) and their infant daughter Khadija Jouda, . Muhammed Abdulkader’s brother Wesam Jouda and his daughter Shaima Jouda were also among those killed. Muhammed Abdulkader’s other brother Alaa Jouda was killed with his wife, who remains unnamed. Their children, sons Muhammed Jouda and Abu Bakr Jouda, and daughters Aisha Jouda and Maryam Jouda were also killed. Muhammed Abdulkader’s brother Ismail Jouda (a militant) and his wife, again unnamed, were killed with their two sons, Abdulkader Jouda and Abdul Rahman Jouda. Muhammed Abdulkader and his siblings’ mother Faeda Ghannam (Hajja Umm Wesam) was among those killed.
Nibal Sukkar posted a condolence message for “21 male and female” members of the Abu Jouda family, including his uncles Alaa, Ismail, Muhammad, and Wesam, along with their families, adding that Muhammad’s eldest son Abdul Al-Qadir and his eldest daughter survived the strike. Ranim Manisy posted a memorial for her friend of more than 16 years Shaima Jouda who was a student of Oral and Dental Medicine at the University of Palestine, describing her as “my friend and my sister” and gave condolences to to Shaima’s mother “my dear teacher Miss Abeer” who wasn’t among those killed. Creative Smurfs Kindergarten also posted a condolence message for their students Abdulkader Jouda, Aisha Jouda and Abdul Rahman Jouda.
Lea Abdel Rahim Al-Jahjouh, Alaa Abdel Karim Abu Joudeh (Al-Assar), Rana Rafat Helmi Abu Mousameh (Al-Rahala), Ahmed Nour Ahmed Abu Lehiyah, Alaa Ayesh Abu Al-Aouf, and Manal Momen Majed Abu Al-Aouf were also named in sources as among those killed.
The al-Ajrami family had heeded prior Israeli warnings to move to the south of the Strip – Ayed Atallah al-Ajrami and his nephew Raji received a call from the Israeli military to move southwards immediately. CNN, drawing from records of the call, reported that IDF officials instructed civilians to move south but gave “no guidance on how to get there,” though Aaed al-Ajrami had asked which roads would be safest to take, being told “It doesn’t matter which road,” the officer replied. “Do it as fast as you can. There is no time left.” The family evacuated their northern home very early on the morning of October 13th, 2023, and traveled to a friend’s home eight miles away, in the safe zone of Deir Al Balah. They would be killed by an airstrike the next afternoon. According to multiple sources, the home belonged to Abu Wesam Jouda and was located opposite the “High Class” lounge on Abu Arif Street.
Ayed’s nephew, Raji, who was with him when he received the IDF guidance to evacuate, was staying at another building nearby when he heard the explosion and rushed to the scene. “The destruction was massive,” Raji said. “We started digging people out who were hit by the explosion, some of them were still alive … the gunpowder smell was very strong, the dust was everywhere.” Following the strike, Raja took in the injured children who survived the strike.
A funeral for the Al-Ajrami family took place in Deir Al Balah cemetery on October 15th, 2023.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
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.