Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Around 2:29 AM on Wednesday, October 18th 2023, at least 21 civilians, members of the Sakeek family, including at least ten children and six women, were reportedly killed and a number of others were wounded in an alleged Israeli airstrike on their home on Omar al-Mukhtar Street, opposite the production bank in Gaza City, Gaza Strip.
Initial reportage from Shehab Agency, al-Mayadeen, Nabd and PaltodayTV stated that there were “martyrs and wounded” as a result of the alleged bombing, with al Aqsa Voice stating that there were a “number of casualties.”
Videos shared on social media showed ambulances and rescue workers rushing to the site of the bombing in darkness, with another source sharing a video of the rubble and destruction in the aftermath of the reported strike. A neighbor and relative of the Sakeek family stated that they were consoling their “neighbor, brother and friend Abdul Rahman Sakeek” after most of their family members were martyred in the bombing that allegedly occurred “while they were sleeping.”
A family relative Mohammed Saleem Skaik shared on Facebook the images of numerous bodies of the victims wrapped in shrouds and placed in the back of a van and later in a ditch on the ground and wrote that more than 25 members of his family were killed: “God granted martyrdom to the cousins of my family last night in a barbaric bombing, where more than 25 of them were martyred. Scenes that cannot be described and cannot be abandoned, but our only consolation is that they are in a paradise as wide as the heavens and the earth.”
Surviving members of the family posted the names of 21 people killed in the bombing, with user Abu Jalal sharing an image of a middle-aged bearded man and stating that “Amjad Sakeek and his entire family were martyrs.”
A family grandfather Hajj Muhy al-Din Abdel Rahman Muhy al-Din Sakeek (Abu al-Abd) (78) was killed alongside his sons Hajj Amjad Muhy al-Din Abdel Rahman Sakeek (42) and Muhammad Muhiddeen Abdel Rahman Sakeek (33), his daughter-in-law (wife of Amjad) Iman Gamal Abd al-Qadir Sakeek (40) and Amjad and Iman’s children Muhiddeen Amjad Muhiddeen Sakeek (13) and Mena Amjad Muhiddeen Sakeek (15).
The deadly attack also killed Muhammad’s wife Dina Alaa Ibrahim Sakeek (32) along with Dina and Muhammad’s children Ali Muhammad Muheisen Sakeek (6) and Tala Muhammad Muheisen Sakeek (4).
Among the killed victims were also a daughter-in-law of Abu al-Abd Inas Ramzi Muhammad Sakeek (37) married to his son Saad, with their four children – Ayyam Saadallah Bahaa Al-Din Sakeek (13), Karam Saadallah Bahaa Al-Din Sakeek (11), Bahaa Al-Din Saadallah Bahaa Al-Din Sakeek (17), and Kareem Saadallah Bahaa Al-Din Sakeek (11).
Within the related family, Hajj Baha’al-Din Abdel Rahman Muhayyis Sakeek (Abu Saad) (72) was killed alongside his wife Wissam Muhammad Khaleel Sakeek (61), their daughter Noor Bahaa al-Din Abdel Rahman Sakeek (38), their son Abdullah Bahaa al-Din Abdel Rahman Sakeek (Abu Omar) (34), Abdullah’s wife Dana Hashem Saadi Sakeek (30), as well as Abdullah and Dana’s children – their son Anas Abdullah Bahaa Al-Din Sakeek (1) and their daughter Joan Abdullah Bahaa Al-Din Sakeek (6).
Social media user Abu Mohammad shared an image of Baha’al-Din Sakeek (Abu Saad) – an elderly, clean-shaven man standing at a religious lectern – and revealed that he was the Muezzin for their mosque.
Colleagues of Abu Mohammad’s son Abdullah Sakeek (Abu Omar) mourned his death, sharing that he was the financial auditor of the Qawafil Al-Khair Association, and posted a video of him, a smiling, cheerful middle-aged man. A friend of the late Abdullah Mahmoud AliHasan posted on Facebook his last conversation with him and wrote that Abdullah was “a boy in whom all types of goodness were combined.” His wife Dana and their children were remembered in a Facebook tribute by Mariam Ghaith who mourned their death “as a result of the bombing of their house in Gaza at dawn.”
Other images of the victims shared included elderly men and young boys, with user Hasen posting an image of Abu Omar Sakeek Shahid – a smiling, bearded man – with the caption Goodbye, my dear heart…May God have mercy on you and accept you, my beloved.”
All names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.
Where sources identified the belligerents all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
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 incident occured at approximately 2:29 am local time.
The victims were named as:
Family members (21)
Summary
Sources (26) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (22) [ collapse]
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Source: @Mansorryaan -
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Source: Aelam -
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Source: Aelam -
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Source: Aelam -
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Source: Mahmud -
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Source: Hasen -
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Source: Maiam -
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Source: Mohammad -
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Source: Mohey -
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Source: Shahin -
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Source: Shahin -
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Source: Shahin -
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Source: Shahin -
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Source: Shahin -
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Source: Shahin -
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Source: Familyskaik -
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Source: Abu jalal -
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Source: Jamal -
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Source: Abu mohammad -
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Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the vicinity of the Production Bank (بنك الإنتاج) to the west of Gaza city (غزة), for which the generic coordinates are: 31.512599, 34.453029. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.