On Thursday, October 19th, 2023, a declared Israeli airstrike on the Muhaisen family home located in the Abu Iskandar area of Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, central Gaza City, killed 19 members of the Muhaisen family including Major General Jihad Abd Suleiman Muhaisen, commander of the Hamas-run Palestinian National Security Forces in Gaza. 18 of his family members were also killed – among them at least six women and nine children. Muhaisen has been categorised as a militant but the other 18 victims were all reported to be civilians.

A statement from the Israeli military declared the strike, describing Muhaisan as “Head of National Security of Hamas” and labelling him a “key terrorist operative.”

The airstrike reduced the home to rubble, and civilian volunteers were reported to have recovered a number of people from the wreckage. Photos posted by one of the family’s relatives, Jamil Muhaisen, and another Facebook user, Khaled Alhamarnh, indicate that the strike killed young children.

The death of the 53-year-old Jihad Abd Suleiman Muhaisen was confirmed by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement – as reported by Alghad News. In the images of the late Jihad Muhaisen shared by Atef Abdulghani, Ahmad Arafat and Menara FM, he is seen as a middle-aged bearded man in a military uniform and a green beret.

Family relative Jamil Muheisen posted a list of the civilian members of the Muhaisen family killed in the incident. He added a picture of the late Jihad Muhaisen and some other members of the family killed. Among the victims killed were a one-year-old infant Jihad Abdul Rahman Muhaisen and eight other children under the age of 18, in particular, Ayaa Abdul Rahman Muhaisen, a nine-year-old boy Moaz Jihad Abdul Muhaisen, a six-year-old boy Muhammad Muhammad Muhaisen, a 10-year-old girl Sama Ahmed Muhaisen, a 15-year-old girl  Aya Ahmed Hassan Muheisen, a 14-year old boy Zakaria Imad Abdel Muhaisen, and two 17-year old boys, Yahya Imad Abdel Muhaisen and Musab Jihad Abdel Muhaisen.

The attack took the lives of at least six women, including Intisar Jihad Muhaisen (24), Sanaa Abd Suleiman Muheisen (57), Rania Yahya Saeed Muhaisen (44),  Intisar Muhammad Ahmed Muhaisen (75), Abeer Sufyan Durwish Muhaisen (31), and Yumama Ahmed Muhammad Muhaisen (45).

Among the victims killed were also 19-year old Youssef Imad Abdel Muhaisen, Abdul Rahman Jihad Muhaisen (23, likely the father of Jihad and Ayaa Abdul Rahman based on his name) and Imad Abd Muheisen (41). Bahaa Moheisen wrote a Facebook tribute to his uncle Imad Muhaisen, saying that in his death, his uncle, “hurt our hearts,” adding a picture of the middle-aged man with a grey beard and a kind smile.

Latifa Ahmad Albatran, the niece of Jihad’s mother Umm Jihad Muhaisen (possibly corresponding to 75-year-old Intisar Muhammad Ahmed Muhaisen in the list of victims),  wrote that the strike killed her “beloved” aunt, along with her children and grandchildren. She added an image of an elderly woman in a white jihab on the backdrop of the sacred stone Kaaba.

Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.

Israel Defense Forces mentioned Jihad Muheisan among “Key Hamas Terrorist Operatives Eliminated by the IDF and ISA” on their official website. Therefore, Airwars has graded the strike status as declared. However, the IDF has not acknowledged civilian harm resulting from the incident.