Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0310

Incident date

October 17, 2023

Location

منزل عائلة الأسطل خلف الكتيبة بخان يونس, Al-Astal family’s house behind the battalion in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, the Gaza Strip

Airwars assessment

On October 17th 2023, a young male civilian was reportedly killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Al-Astal family home behind the battalion in Khan Yunis.

Posts circulated on social media have paid tribute and shared an image of the victim, 20 year old Rakan Khaled Muhammad Abdul Aziz Al-Astal. In one post, the user, Leena Alqedrah, offered their prayers to Rakan’s family.

A further Facebook post by user Khaled Abdel Salam Abu Walid reported that the funeral was planned for ‘tomorrow, Wednesday, at ten o’clock at the Austrian Stadium’.

News reporting and Twitter/X posts, such as from user @PalinfoAr on the day of the incident, reported that there were martyrs and injuries from the strike. However, there is no further detail on the wounded or additional victims killed.

In cases where sources attributed responsibility for the strike, they held the Israeli military responsible.

Airwars has matched the victim’s name with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.

Due to the scale and urgency of Airwars’ assessment process, all images have been automatically uploaded to each assessment with the graphic filter applied to protect users. We have also included all images identified from the sources, which may also include any imagery of combatants.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Rakan Khaled Muhammad Abdul Aziz Al-Astal ركان خالد محمد عبد العزيز الاسطل
20 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 408022168

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 2
  • (1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • 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 attacker
    Israeli Military

Sources (12) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Khaled Abdel Salam Abu Walid

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
    1 – 2
  • (1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • 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 attacker
    Israeli Military

Sources (12) [ collapse]