At dawn on Saturday, October 21st, 2023, seven civilians were killed and at least four others were injured by an alleged Israeli strike on the Al Sawalhi family home in the Al-Geneina neighborhood in Rafah. One member of Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, Raed Ibrahim al-Sawalhi, was among those killed.

The Rafah city official page, Alsyed Abdullah, and Tala A. Riziq provided the names of those killed: 44-year-old Al-Qassam member Raed Ibrahim al-Sawalhi, his three-year-old daughter Halaa Raed Ibrahim al-Sawalhi, his 12-year-old son Al-Baraa Raed Ibrahim al-Sawalhi, and his brother, 49-year-old Iyad Ibrahim al-Sawalhi.

Siblings, appearing to be the great-niece and nephews of Raed, 11-year-old Lana Mahmoud al-Arair, 8-year-old Muhammad Mahmoud al-Arair, and six-year-old Yazid Mahmoud al-Arair were also killed.

When Airwars first published this incident on March 1, 2024, no open sources were found to suggest that Raed Ibrahim al-Sawalhi was a militant. As such, Ahmed was recorded as a civilian. This was in line with Airwars’ methodology which is employed across all conflicts we document, and informed by international standards regarding the ‘presumption of civilian status‘. Specifically, as outlined by the International Committee of the Red Cross, civilian status is assumed until evidence is identified to the contrary.

However, on May 4, 2026, AqmarTofan, a Telegram account associated with Hamas’ militant wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, posted a tribute to Raed al-Sawalhi, naming him as a commander. As such, his civilian status has been updated to militant, and the number of civilians recorded as killed in this incident was changed from eight to seven.

The Twitter account @Alsharawmo reported that a total of eight people had been killed in the strikes on “the home of the Ibrahim Al-Sawalhi family.” No other name has been publicly released.

A post from Joyria and Aisha referred to Raed as “preacher Sheikh.” Alsyed Abdullah, a “colleague and brother” of Professor Iyad Al-Sawalhi Abu Yazan posted a condolence message to him as well. Asil al-Saadawi remembered his uncle Iyad as “my beloved, my friend, and the kindest person.” Anas Sofian, Raed’s nephew and uncle to Lana, Muhammad and Yazid, described them as “the precious children of our family.”

Multiple sources indicate that many Palestinian civilians were injured although numbers were not specified; photographs published by the Gaza News Network depict two young children and two adults severely injured by the bombing. Tala A. Riziq, the nephew of Raed Ibrahim Al Sawalhi, wrote in a Facebook post “Prayers for a speedy recovery of Iyad’s uncle and the rest of the injured”.

The airstrike was carried out at dawn, reportedly striking the Al Sawalhi home which was opposite a neighbourhood public park.

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

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