On Wednesday, October 18th 2023, a young man was reportedly killed during an alleged Israeli bombing in the Barbakh neighborhood in Khan Yunis, in the central Gaza Strip.

It was reported that Mahmoud Jamal Abu Zarifa, also known as Abu Jamal, was killed as a result of the strike. Journalist Mouthanna Al-Najjae posted that he was a media student and others added that he held a doctorate.

Mahmoud’s brother-in-law, Layth Ibrahim, expressed his sadness at Mahmoud’s death and wished strength and patience for his sister Janan Ibrahim, Mahmoud’s wife.

Many friends and family members posted heartfelt tributes to Mahmoud and mourned his death. Maha Bsael Abu Zarifa posted on Facebook describing Mahmoud Jamal as cheerful, helpful and humble. Ibrahim Albreem described Mahmoud as beloved and friendly and Emad M. A Alfarra described him as chivalrous and generous.

Mohammed Abudagga Abukenan described the young man as kind and creative and reported that he would often provide people with humanitarian aid, though sought no credit for these actions.

Mohammed also wrote in this post “Since yesterday, I have been thinking about what to write about it but until now I couldn’t because all the talk wouldn’t do you justice, my friend.”

Pictures posted by friends and family members showed a smartly dressed Mahmoud in academic robes and another of him on a beach with a friend.

In the context of reporting in the Gaza Strip, Airwars has found that explicit attribution to Israeli forces is rare and instead is assumed by sources given the intensity of bombardment. Airwars has matched the name of the civilian 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 the strike status has been graded as a single source claim. Incidents will be updated to reflect alternative attribution should that come to light at a later stage.