Conflict

Israel and Gaza

Incident Code

ISPT0354

Location

تل الهوى, Tal al Hawa, Gaza, Palestinian territories

Geolocation

31.498611, 34.442500
Accuracy: Neighbourhood/area

Airwars Assessment

Last Updated: December 15, 2024

On October 18th 2023, between five and seven members of the al-Halaw family, including at least three children and at least one woman were killed, and a large number of civilians were injured in an alleged airstrike by the Israeli military on the al-Halaw home, on Street 8 in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood near the University College in Gaza.

Initial reportage from the Palestinian Information Center and Shehab Agency stated that there were “Martyrs and wounded in the bombing…on a house for the al-Halaw family.” In three separate Facebook posts, relatives of the al-Halaw family mourned the loss of Umm al-Abd al-Halaw’s sons who died, confirming the names of four victims killed in the alleged airstrike – the brothers Abdel Haleem Bashir al-Halaw (40), Fajr Abdel Halim Bashir al-Halaw, Imad Bashir al-Halaw and Imad’s wife Yousry al-Halaw. They added that “a large number [of injured] were taken to hospital” with no specfic details or numbers of the injured mentioned

A day later, on October 19th 2023, Abdel Halim Bashir al-Halaw’s brother-in-law Hamade al-Halaw expressed his pain in a Facebook post and posted a picture of Abdel, a clean shaven middle-aged man smiling in a suit. The post also named Abdel’s son Mu’tasim Billah al-Halaw (11) as having been killed in the alleged strike, as well as Imad and Yousry’s unnamed children, further stating that “the rest of the family members are injured or missing, buried under the rubble, points to other injured family members, trapped under the rubble or missing altogether after their house in the Tal Al-Hawa area was bombed” – however the number of missing or injured have not been specified.

Airwars has matched the names of some of the civilians killed with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023, which explicitly mentions that names on the list are “victims of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip”. Therefore, coupled with the explicit attribution of the strike by one source to Israel, this incident has been graded as a “Likely Strike”, and the Civilian Harm grading is “Fair”.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.

Victims

Individuals

Abdel Haleem Bashir al-Halaw عبد الحليم بشير الحلو
40 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 800019234
Fajr Abdel Halim Bashir al-Halaw فجر عبد الحليم بشير الحلو
killed
Imad Bashir al-Halaw عماد بشير الحلو
killed
Yousry al-Halaw يسري الحلو
36 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 800617474
Mu'tasim Billah al-Halaw المعتصم بالله الحلو
11 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 433196722

Key Information

Military Actor
Strike Type
Airstrike
Strike Status
Likely strike
Civilian Harm Reported
Yes
Civilian Harm Status
Fair
Causes of Death / Injury
Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
Civilians reported killed
5–7
1–3 Children, 1 Woman, 3 Men
Civilians reported injured
12–24

Geolocation Notes

Reports of the incident mention the neighbourhood of Tal al Hawa (تل الهوى) to the south of Gaza city (غزة). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Tal al Hawa are: 31.498611, 34.442500.

Military Statements

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

Media From Sources (1)