Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0437

Incident date

October 21, 2023

Location

الشيخ ناصر أو معان, Sheikh Nasser/Ma’an, Khan Younis, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.340473, 34.312282 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Additional Geolocations

31.330061, 34.316744 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

During the night of Saturday, 21st of October 2023, an airstrike allegedly conducted by the Israeli military killed a 91-year old Palestinian woman, Alia Mohammad Ibrahim Jarghoun, alongside her three-year old grandchild Noor Al-Din Hamadeh Ahmad Jarghoun, and injured at least six civilians, including a woman and at least two children, and up to dozens of civilians, in the Jarghoun family home, situated in the Sheikh Nasser/Ma’an area in eastern Khan Yunis, the Gaza Strip.

The Ministry of the Interior in Gaza and multiple local news sources reported on the event, corroborating the death of Alia Jarghoun and Nour Hamada Jarghoun and referencing the further six civilians injured by the airstrike. A family member Muhammad Refaat Jarghoun wrote on Facebook that “at the beginning of the night, a heinous crime was committed against my family, the Jargun family, which resulted in the martyrdom of a woman and an unarmed child, and many injuries.” Safa news reported that a woman and a girl were recovered from under the rubble of the Hargun family’s house, but there is no further information whether they were alive or dead.

There are multiple video evidence of this violence: a Twitter/X user @mohammed_jbour posted a harrowing video showing the father identifying the body of his deceased child, Nour Jarghoun, and collapsing at the sight of his child in the makeshift mortuary, covering his eyes and having to be supported and pulled out by another individual.

MsdrNews posted a video on Facebook showing the moments an ambulance arrived with hospital staff waiting to treat the wounded. An infant is taken out of the ambulance in the arms of a paramedic – it is unclear if the child is alive, and an adult man with a torn vest makes his way inside the hospital. Two young children are ushered into the hospital with visible, bloody wounds to their bodies and are followed by a large number of men, presumably reporters and/or family members.

A day later, on Sunday, October 22st, 2023, Jarghon posted on Facebook calling for prayers at the Indonesian Mosque in Central Gaza to mourn the loss of their family members Alia Jarghoun and Nour Hamada Jarghoun.

Alia Jarghoun’s funeral took place on the Sunday October 22st, 2023. She was remembered by relatives in a facebook post by Omammar2020 as the “Mother of the martyr Hassan Jarghoun, the first martyr in the Stone Intifada 1987, and grandmother of the martyr Zaher Jarghoun 2011”.

Where possible, Airwars has matched names with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of nearly 7000 victims’ names and ID numbers released on October 26th.

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

The incident occured during the night.

The victims were named as:

Family members (2)

Alia Mohammad Ibrahim Jarghoun عالية جرغون
91 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 914317623
Noor Al-Din Hamadeh Ahmad Jarghoun نور حمادة جرغون
3 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 442999215

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the Sheikh Nasser (الشيخ ناصر) and Ma’an (معان) neighbourhoods in the east of the city of Khan Younis (خان يونس). We were unable to find boundaries for these neighbourhoods, but the generic coordinates for Sheikh Nasser are: 31.340473, 34.312282. The generic coordinates for Ma’an are: 31.330061, 34.316744. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Infrastructure
    Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • (1 child1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    6
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (22) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (7) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @alaraby_ar
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    Source: @palestineultra
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Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Infrastructure
    Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • (1 child1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    6
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (22) [ collapse]