On October 16th 2023 at least three people – 37 year old journalist Abdulhadi Habib, his mother-in-law, 54 year old Buthina Al Tatar, and her grandchild, three year old Amer Bilal Al-Tatar, were killed by an alleged Israeli airstrike on a residential apartment in the Zaytoun neighborhood in eastern Gaza. Multiple sources agree that family members of Abdulhadi Habib were also injured during the airstrike, with injuries ranging from moderate to severe. The exact details of those injured is unknown.

Palestinians of Iraq’s Facebook post reported that on October 16, 2023 the neighbourhoods of Zaytoun and Al-Shujaiya were subject to a sustained, eight hour aerial bombardment. Most sources agree that it was during this time that Abdulhadi Habib’s residential apartment was hit – allegedly by an Israeli airstrike.

Abdulhadi Habib was a journalist for the UNRWA Education Television. The Director General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, has made a statement on the incident. She described the death of the UNRWA journalist as deplorable, and renewed calls for parties to respect the UN Security Council Resolution 2222/2015 which protects journalists during conflict. Audrey Azoulay called for a “full independent investigation” into the death of Abdulhadi Habib.

Muhammad Abu Sharka, a colleague of Abdulhadi, described their time working together: “We covered dozens of events together. We shared the difficult moments, the pressure of work, staying up for long hours, tears, and food. His smile was always present, and his comments alleviated the hardship of work.” Another of his former colleagues, journalist Israa Al-Mudalallal, added that Abdulhadi’s wife had just given birth to a baby girl on the first day of the conflict.

Friends and family members of the victims posted condolence messages, including Yahya Z. Tatars who memorialized their aunt “mother of Mustafa Sarsour”, her daughter (which may indicate that Abdulhadi’s wife was also killed), and their cousin Amer Bilal Al-Tatar.

Airwars has matched all of the names with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of nearly 7000 victims’ names and ID numbers released on October 26th.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces. A post by Mohamed Yousif specified that the bombing occurred without warning.