Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Between two and three children were killed and two other civilians, including a child, were injured in an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Al-Fakhari area, east of Khan Yunis, on May 12, 2021.
A tweet from @Alaqsavoice_Brk reports that “two children were killed, one was seriously injured, and one moderately wounded, in the bombing of a group of children in the Al-Fakhari area, east of Khan Yunis.” @ALJADEEDNEWS added that among the two injured included a child and the incident occurred “when a motorcycle was bombed”.
@hafss90 tweeted the names of two of the children killed: Ammar Tayseer Al-Amor, 11 years old and Hamada Attia Al-Amour, 13 years old.
According to the Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP), “Hamada Attia Abed al-Emour, 13, was on his way to a store near his home around 5:30 p.m., accompanied by his two cousins, Ammar Tayseer Mohammad al-Emour, 10, and Elyan Moneer Ibrahim al-Emour, 12, when the Israeli attack helicopter fired two thermal flares and then a missile in the direction of the children, according to documentation collected by DCIP. At the time of the missile attack, the street was open and completely quiet. The helicopter-fired missile directly hit Hamada and Ammar, dismembering and killing them both instantly. Elyan, who was walking five to six meters (16-20 feet) in front of his cousins, was struck with shrapnel in the abdomen, according to documentation collected by DCIP.”
The New York Times reported that the children had gone to get haircuts at the barbershop, a tradition for the end of Ramadan, and were almost back to their house when the strike occurred. Atiya al-Emour, Hamada’s father, who said he witnessed his son’s death, said “I wish I didn’t see what happened to him. It was awful.”
B’Tselem collected testimony from ‘Atiyyah al-‘Amur, 46, a father of eight including Hamadah, who said “On Wednesday, 12 May 2021, at 3:30 P.M., I was standing at the doorway to my store. My son Hamadah had come over with two of his cousins, ‘Amer al-‘Amur, 10, and ‘Alayan al-‘Amur, 11. They were going to get a haircut and stopped by so I could give Hamadah money. The barbershop is two kilometers from the store, on Salah a-Din Street. I gave him money and they left. Two hours later, at 5:30 P.M., they came back after the haircuts. They took some instant noodles and went home. I sat down in the doorway. I looked at the sky to the east and saw two Israeli helicopters hovering next to each other, and then one turned south and the other west. Less than a minute later, the helicopter heading west fired a missile that hit Hamadah and his cousins, who were walking along the right side of the street. They were about 50 meters from the store. I saw dust and thick smoke where the kids had been. I couldn’t see them. I went into shock and couldn’t do anything. The smoke cleared after a few minutes, and then I saw the three of them lying on the road. I ran over to them, screaming. There was no one else around. I was so confused and panicked, I ran back and forth between the kids and the store. A few minutes later, people started arriving. Among them was my relative Hatem, 50. He lifted ‘Alayan, who was lying wounded on the ground by the Timraz station, about 20 meters from the other two boys. Hatem put ‘Alayan in his car and drove straight to the European Hospital. He wanted to take ‘Amer and my son Hamadah with him, too, but I told him and the other people there that they were dead. Both boys were burnt in most parts of their bodies, including their faces. Meanwhile, my cousin Taleb, 55, arrived and put Hamadah and ‘Amer in his car. I was in shock and in a terrible state. I couldn’t bring myself to go near them or drive with them to hospital. I sat down by my store and didn’t know what to do. I was hysterical and the people around me tried to calm me down. After half an hour, I went to the European Hospital and found that Hamadah and ‘Amer were already in the morgue. My nephew ‘Alayan was in surgery. He had abdominal surgery and after six days, was transferred to al-‘Arish Hospital in Egypt. He’s still there. The next day, Thursday, 13 May 2021, was ‘Eid al-Fitr. Instead of celebrating, we buried my son and my nephew. They’re buried at the a-Sheik Muhammad cemetery in Khan Yunis. Hamadah was in the seventh grade at an UNWRA school in the al-Fukhari neighborhood. Everyone loved him. Since he was martyred, we’ve stopped hearing the voices of his friends, who used to call him to come out and play. Hamadah loved playing soccer. He used to help me with farm work and sometimes also at the grocery store.”
A tweet from @Safi_F70 identified the children as being ” from the Tarabin tribe” and added Al-Tarabin to their named. They also identified Elyan Mounir Al-Amour Al-Tarabin, 13 years old (M), as also being injured but in a serious condition. @IslemChaouchi added the name Omar Abdel Ibrahim Abu Mustafa, age 21, resident of Khan Yunis Al-Fokhari, as being injured in the strikes.
Arab 48 reported that the injured were taken to Nasser Hospital for treatment while DCIP reported that at first “all three children were transported to the nearby European hospital where doctors pronounced Hamada and Ammar dead. Eylan was later transferred to Khan Younis’ Nasser hospital and remains in critical condition as of midday on May 13.”
@AyaIsleemEn and @horiyatelqs identified three children as being killed “east of Rafah” but did not provide any other details.
DCIP pointed out that the helicopter used was a “U.S.-sourced Israeli Apache attack helicopter” and Al Mezan reported that the location was “land adjacent to Timraz Station in Al-Fakhary in southeast Khan Younis”. Al Mezan also identified the strike as occurring at 5:30pm while the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights stated that the strike occurred at 10:15am and only two children were wounded.
All of the sources that reported on the strike attributed the strikes to Israel.
The incident occured at 17:30:00 local time.
The victims were named as:
Family members (3)
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (34) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (12) [ collapse]
-
Images from the funeral of Ammar Tayseer Al-Amor and Hamada Atiya Al-Amour after they were killed in strikes on Al-Fokhari on May 12, 2021. (Image posted by @PalinfoAr)
-
Images from the funeral of Ammar Tayseer Al-Amor and Hamada Atiya Al-Amour after they were killed in strikes on Al-Fokhari on May 12, 2021. (Image posted by @PalinfoAr)
-
Images from the funeral of Ammar Tayseer Al-Amor and Hamada Atiya Al-Amour after they were killed in strikes on Al-Fokhari on May 12, 2021. (Image posted by @PalinfoAr)
-
Images from the funeral of Ammar Tayseer Al-Amor and Hamada Atiya Al-Amour after they were killed in strikes on Al-Fokhari on May 12, 2021. (Image posted by @PalinfoAr)
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Graphic images of the children killed in strikes on Al-Fokhari on May 12, 2021. (Image posted by @azzam19951) -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Graphic images of the children killed in strikes on Al-Fokhari on May 12, 2021. (Image posted by @azzam19951) -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Child moderately injured in strikes on Al-Fokhari on May 12, 2021. (Image posted by @pl24online) -
Elyan Mounir Al-Amour Al-Tarabin, who was injured and later died from his injuries from strikes on Al-Fokhari on May 12, 2021. (Image posted by TarabeenTop via Facebook)
-
Hamada Attia Abed, age 13, was killed in strikes on al-Fukhari on May 12, 2021. (Image posted by Abo Fadi via Facebook)
-
Ammar Tayseer Ayesh al-Amor, age 11, was killed in strikes on al-Fukhari on May 12, 2021. (Image posted by Abo Fadi via Facebook)
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Graphic images of the children killed in strikes on Al-Fokhari on May 12, 2021. (Image posted by @SafaPs) -
‘Atiyyah al-‘Amur in his shop, next to posters commemortaing his son Hamadah and his nephew ‘Amer who were killed in strikes on al-Fukhari neighborhood on May 12, 2021. (Image posted by B'Tselem)
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention Timraz station, allegedly located within Al Fakhari (الفخاري). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Al Fakhari are: 31.295483, 34.333109.