Geolocation
Airwars assessment
At least one man, identified as a member of the Mujahid Qassami, was killed and three others were injured in an alleged Israeli drone strike on Deir Al-Balah.
According to Al Mezan, Mohammed Khaled Al-Tawashi, 21, a resident of Deir Al-Balah, was pronounced dead upon arrival at Al Aqsa Hospital at 8:30am. He was killed in an Israeli drone strike the previous evening near his home.
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights added that the drone strike had occurred at approximately 7:00pm the night before on agricultural land behind a home.
Both Al Mezan and Palestinian Centre for Human Rights reported that Al-Tawashi’s body wasn’t found until the morning after he was killed. However, multiple sources, including @uunionnews and @GazaNewsOfficia reported that “a martyr and 3 injuries arrived at Al-Aqsa Hospital after targeting in Deir al-Balah” on May 13th. It is unclear if this is the same incident.
Al Qassam Brigades posted a memorial on their website for Mohamed Khaled Al-Tawashi, who they identified as a “Mujahid Qassami”. @SafaPs also tweeted that a resistance site was bombed in Deir al-Balah. None of the sources referred to Al-Tawashi as a civilian.
All of the sources attribute the strikes to Israel. The Israeli Defense Forces released a statement that “17:25 – IDF aircraft attack the operational apartment of the deputy commander of Hamas’ Jabalya battalion in the northern Gaza Strip, from which the latest attacks were conducted. In addition, the IDF attacked three other operational apartments, of a company commander in the Sajaiya battalion in the northern Gaza Strip, a company commander in Shabura in the northern Gaza Strip and a company commander in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.”
The incident occured at approximately 7:00 pm local time.
Summary
Sources (15) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (5) [ collapse]
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Mohamed Khaled Al-Tawashi, identified as a member of "Mujahid Qassami' was killed by an Israeli drone strike on May 13, 2021. (Image posted by Al Qassam Brigades)
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Strikes on Deir al-Balah on May 13, 2021. (Image posted by @ISM_HAB98)
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Mohamed Khaled Al-Tawashi, identified as a member of "Mujahid Qassami' was killed by an Israeli drone strike on May 13, 2021. (Image posted by Noor Al Tawawshi)
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This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Very graphic image of Mohamed Khaled Al-Tawashi, identified as a member of "Mujahid Qassami' was killed by an Israeli drone strike on May 13, 2021. (Image posted by @Gaza_2021)
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town 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.
Israeli Military Assessment:
Original strike reports
17:25 - IDF aircraft attack the operational apartment of the deputy commander of Hamas' Jabalya battalion in the northern Gaza Strip, from which the latest attacks were conducted. In addition, the IDF attacked three other operational apartments, of a company commander in the Sajaiya battalion in the northern Gaza Strip, a company commander in Shabura in the northern Gaza Strip and a company commander in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.