Geolocation
Airwars assessment
On October 19, 2023, the al-Kurd family home in the city of Deir al Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, was bombed in an alleged Israeli airstrike. Nineteen members of the al-Kurd family were killed in the incident.
The patriarch of the family, 58-year old Zuhair Abdel Qader al-Kurd was killed with his wife, 51-year old Rabeia Mahmoud Abdel Razzaq al-Kurd. Their son, 29-year old Abdel Fattah Zuhair al-Kurd and his wife, Aya Salman, were also killed, as were their two young children: 2-year old Zuhair Abdulfattah Zuhair al-Kurd and 4-year old Layn Abdulfattah Zuhair al-Kurd.
Zuhair and Rabiaa’s second son, 20-year old Muhammad Zuhair al-Kurd was killed with his brother, 16-year old Ahmed Zuhair al-Kurd, and sister, 18-year old Nada Zuhair al-Kurd.
Other family members were also killed: the 6-year old child Habiba Abdul Qader Zuhair al-Kurd, and mother and son Faten Anwar al-Kurd and Ahmed al-Kurd.
20-year old Amr Adnan al-Kurd was killed with his sister, 14-year old Sama Adnan al-Kurd. A pregnant Aseel Ayman Ahmed al-Kurd was killed, as was Amani Ibrahim Ahmed al-Kurd. Lastly, Maryam Ahmed Harb al-Kurd was killed with her two daughters, 15-year old Rawan Hassan al-Kurd and 17-year old Sarah Hassan al-Kurd.
There were no reports of injuries following the incident.
Little detail was shared about the victims, with most friends and family instead sharing prayers and hopes for afterlife redemption. Facebook user Sahar Mahmoud described Maryam al-Kurd as her “creative and literary predecessor.” Sahar lauded Maryam’s daughters, Sarah and Rawan, for having both memorized the Quran. Maryam appears to have also done so.
Family, friends, and journalists shared images and videos of the funeral online with words of consolation for the family. The family’s pain was very evident: images of the funeral show crying women, one of whom has collapsed. A graphic photo shared by Facebook user Abdullatif Tawfic shows the aftermath of the strike: a man cradling a teenage boy who is bloodied and wrapped in a body bag. Twitter/X user @M86950933 attached a photo of the funeral where three children–one of whom appears to be an infant– can be seen also wrapped in body bags.
In his farewell to those killed, Twitter/X user Ahmad al-Kurd said, “The heart is sad, and I am saddened by their separation. May God accept them, forgive them, and make them dwell in the highest paradise in Paradise.”
Facebook user Ahmed Noor Eldin Basheer remembered his “neighbors and brothers” and asked that they be accepted “to the gardens of bliss.”
A Facebook post from the Al-Kurd Family was the only source to attribute the strike to the Israeli military. However, 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 this incident has been graded as a likely strike.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (19)
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the city of Deir al Balah (دير البلح), for which the generic coordinates are: 31.418995, 34.349442. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (17) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (33) [ collapse]
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Nader Al Arini -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Nader Al Arini -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Nader Al Arini -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Nader Al Arini -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Nader Al Arini -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Abdullatif Tawfic -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Abdullatif Tawfic -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: @M86950933 -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: @M86950933 -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: @M86950933 -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: @M86950933 -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Alrai Online -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Alrai Online -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Alrai Online -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Alrai Online -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Alrai Online -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Alrai Online -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Alrai Online -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Ahmed Noor Eldin Basheer -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Ahmed Noor Eldin Basheer -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Ahmad Al-Kurd -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Nader Al-Arini -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Nader Al-Arini -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Nader Al-Arini -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Al-Kurd Family -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Al-Kurd Family -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Al-Kurd Family -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Al-Kurd Family -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Al-Kurd Family -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Al-Kurd Family -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Al-Kurd Family -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Al-Kurd Family -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.