Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0298

Incident date

October 17, 2023

Location

منزلين لعائلتي "أبو النجا" و"ماضي" بحي الجنينة في رفح, Homes of Abu al-Naja (near Al-Zahraa Clinic) and Madhi families (Saddam Street behind Madi station), Al-Geneina Neighbourhood, city of Rafah, the Gaza Strip

Airwars assessment

During the afternoon of Tuesday, October 17th 2023, 20 members of the Abu al-Naja family, including at least eight women, two of whom were pregnant, and at least eight children and four men were reportedly killed and dozens reportedly injured when Israeli aircrafts allegedly struck the homes of the Abu al-Naja and Madhi families located in the Al-Geneina neighbourhood of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. The Madhi family house was situated behind the Madi Petrol Station near Saddam Street was hit first, and the Abu al-Naja family house located near Al-Zahraa Clinic was hit second according to Twitter/X media user @Hamzaalnamla1.

Grandmother, 78 year-old Hajja Sami Farhana Musa Abu al-Naja (Umm Ibrahim) was killed alongside her son-in-law, 62 year-old Sami Suleiman Abu al-Naja and Sami’s children – his two sons 20 year-old Osama Sami Abu al-Naja and 31 year-old  Muhammad Sami Abu al-Naja, and his two daughters 24 year-old Siham Sami Abu al-Naja and 17 year-old Mays Sami Abu al-Naja. Muhammad Sami Abu Al-Naja’s wife Asmaa al-Shaer, who was pregnant, and their daughter one year-old Eileen Muhammad Abu al-Naja also were killed in the attack.

A granddaughter of Farhana Musa Abu al-Naja, 33 year-old Karam Ibrahim Abu, was killed alongside her two sons 9 year-old Sami Ramzi Abu al-Naja and 11 year-old Khaled Ramzi Abu al-Naja. Another woman, 60 year-old Hoda Hussein Abu al-Naja (Umm Muhammad), died in the airstrike alongside her daughter* Lama Hassanein Abu al-Naja.

Ahmed Hassanein Abu al-Naja was also killed alongside his wife Ghadeer Ayman Mahmoud Abu al-Naja. The late Ahmed was mentioned in a Facebook condolence message by Ahmad Husayn as “mujahid” and “an educator of generations and has his military mark.” In a tribute by Al Arab he was called a “martyr hero”, so Airwars has classified Ahmed Hassanein Abu Al-Naja as a militant. His images attached to these Facebook testimonies show a young smiling bearded young man.

A pregnant woman, 27 year-old Nisreen Ahmed Hussein Abu Al-Naja died together with her daughter 2 year-old Habiba Suleiman Sami Abu Al-Naja. Their death was mourned by Nisreen’s brother Ibraheem Abu Alnaja in a Facebook testimony where he shared an image of Habiba.

One more family member, Ghaida Abdel Qader Abu Al-Naja, died alongside her son 10 year-old Suleiman Muhammad Hassanein Abu Al-Naja and her daughter, 4 year-old Hoda Muhammad Hassanein Abu Al-Naja.

Mustafa Hammam Hamdan Abu Naja was also killed in the airstrike.

Initially, Safa News reported that seven civilians had been killed in the attack on the house belonging to Mr. Sami Abu Al-Naja, but later social media posts by the relatives and friends, including the tributes by Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account, Alzaeem Yousef, Fares Ibrahim and Jawad Abu Naja helped to identify the names of 21 deceased members of Abu al-Naja family. The number and identities of the civilian casualties in the Madhi family is unknown.

The late Haji Sami Suleiman Abu Al-Naja was remembered in a Facebook post by Abbas Al-Am who wrote “May God have mercy on the uncle, the martyr, Sami Abu Naja, Abu Ramzi” and attached an image of a middle-aged bearded man in white clothes.

Sami’s son Osama Sami Abu al-Naja was mentioned in the tributes by Sam Ali and Waseem Mohammad Momar. The late Osama can be seen in the attached images as a young smiling bearded man.

The Ministry of the Interior quoted by multiple news sources announced that a number of people were killed and dozens were injured as a result of these airstrikes. The Palestinian Information Center, as well as a Facebook page named Abu al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account, reported that another house next to them was also struck in the attack.

Photos shared on social media showed the rubble and the destruction in the aftermath of the bombardment, with houses collapsed and a large area of space full of rubble.

A Facebook account Abu al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account shared photos of the bodies of those killed wrapped in sheets being carried through the streets alongside the images of funeral prayers at the cemetery in which one of the families was buried, with a timestamp of 16:22 on the same day as the attack, 17th October, 2023. The post included photos of the rubble of the attacked houses and rescue teams recovering the bodies of those killed from the rubble of the destroyed homes.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military.

*When sources described victims killed as “children of” without further information available regarding their age, Airwars categorized those as children in its ranges.

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

The incident occured in the afternoon.

The victims were named as:

Family members (20)

Farhana Musa Abu al-Naja فرحانة موسى أبو النجا
78 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 914650882
Sami Suleiman Abu al-Naja سامي سليمان أبو النجا
62 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 920778255
Osama Sami Abu al-Naja أسامة سامي أبو النجا
20 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 408457893
Siham (Saham) Sami Abu al-Naja سهام سامي أبو النجا
24 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 404180077
Mays Sami Abu al-Naja ميس سامي أبو النجا
17 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 424413672
Muhammad Sami Abu al-Naja محمد سامي أبو النجا
31 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 803561315
Asmaa al-Shaer أسماء الشاعر
Adult female pregnant killed
Eileen Muhammad Abu al-Naja إيلين محمد أبو النجا
1 years old female Asmaa and Muhammad's child killed Matched to MoH ID 445407406
Karam Ibrahim Abu al-Naja كرم ابراهيم أبو النجا
33 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 802695387
Sami Ramzi Abu al-Naja سامي رمزي أبو النجا
9 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 435236716
Khaled Ramzi Abu al-Naja خالد رمزي أبو النجا
11 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 433421286
Hoda Hussein Abu al-Naja هدى حسين أبو النجا
60 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 901951723
Lama Hassanein Abu Al-Naja لما حسنين أبو النجا
Child female Hoda's daughter killed
Ghadeer Ayman Mahmoud Abu al-Naja غدير أيمن محمود أبو نجا
Adult female killed
Nisreen Ahmed Hussein Abu al-Naja نسرين أحمد حسين أبو النجا
27 years old female pregnant killed Matched to MoH ID 401182415
Habiba Suleiman Sami Abu al-Naja حبيبة سليمان سامي أبو النجا
2 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 445474885
Ghaida Abdel Qader Abu al-Naja غيداء عبد القادر أبو النجا
Adult female killed
Suleiman Muhammad Hassanein Abu al-Naja سليمان محمد حسنين أبو النجا
10 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 434344990
Hoda Muhammad Hassanein Abu al-Naja هدى محمد حسنين أبو النجا
4 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 440721579
Mustafa Hammam Hamdan Abu Naja مصطفى همام حمدان أبو النجا
Age unknown male killed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    20
  • (8 children8 women4 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    12–24
  • 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 (25) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (28) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Ahmad Husayn
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Al Arab
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Waseem Mohammad Momar
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mahmoud Husnein Madi
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Adli Abu Ta
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abbas Al-Am
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sam Ali
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Ibraheem Abu Alnaja
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Alzaeem Yousef
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Alzaeem Yousef
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu Al-Naja Family Gathering Official Account

Israeli Military Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    20
  • (8 children8 women4 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    12–24
  • 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 (25) [ collapse]