Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Around dawn (local time) on Saturday, October 21, 2023, nine civilians, including one woman and six children, were killed, and a number of civilians were injured by an alleged Israeli airstrike in the al-Hawajri family home in Deir Balah, Gaza Strip.
Those killed include four brothers Hamza Ahmed Zidan al-Hawajri (aged 21 or 22), Harith Ahmed Zidan al-Hawajri (15 or 16), Muhammad Ahmed Zidan al-Hawajri (11 or 12), and Omar Ahmed Zidan al-Hawajri (5), their two sisters, Saja Ahmed Zidan al-Hawajri (13) and Amal Ahmed Zidan al-Hawajri (27), as well as nephews (sons of Amal) Ayman al-Jayeh (3) and Ahmed al-Jayeh (1), and brother-in-law Ibrahim Abu Loz (26). At least one other relative of the family, Zeina Zidane Al-Hawajri’s father (and likely grandfather to Hamza and siblings), was injured in the attack but the same source indicated that the number of injured was higher.
Alwatan voice reported “At dawn… dozens of martyrs and wounded in new Israeli targets in the Gaza Strip…According to what was reported by the Ministry of Interior and National Security in Gaza, the [Israeli] aircraft bombed a house for the “Al-Hawajri” family in Deir Balah in the central Gaza Strip, and there were a number of martyrs and wounded.” Similarly, @qudsn posted on X, “The [Israeli] aircraft bombed a house for the Al-Hawajri family in Deir Balah, killing a number of family members and wounding them.” Photographs posted on Facebook by @Maaliepress1 show the complete destruction of the Al-Hawajri family home, with numerous people scouring through the rubble.
Following the incident, family member Yahia [al-Hawajri] wrote on Facebook that “Israel bombed our house today. My brothers Hamza, Muhammad, Omar and Harith were martyred. My sisters, Saja and Amal, and Amal’s two children, Ayman and Ahmed. And my sister’s husband, Ibrahim Abu Loz. Oh my beloved, I hope you are in a better place and comfortable. You will always live inside my heart.” Amal’s husband Mahmoud Al-Jayeh also posted a condolence message to his wife and two sons who were killed, along with an image of the young boys in matching outfits.
Facebook user Abu Omar Al-Ramlawi, who was contacting the family about the “Brotherhood of Friends of Blogging” initiative wrote, “#Zeina, our precious daughter and dear friend…the patient and stationed woman, was saddened today by the martyrdom of her nephews as a result of the bombing and destruction of their house at the heads of the family at dawn today…Despite her young age, she is the aunt of an entire generation of young people, whom she lost. 8 today…despite the number of the injured people, [S]he and her family were patient, patient, and steadfast…Her father, as of 5 p.m., was still waiting to enter the operating room to undergo an operation to treat the effects of his injury in the bombing.”
All names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
Due to the scale and urgency of Airwars’ assessment process, all images have been automatically uploaded to each assessment with the graphic filter applied to protect users. We have also included all images identified from the sources, which may also include any imagery of combatants.
The incident occured around dawn.
The victims were named as:
Family members (10)
Summary
Sources (20) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (7) [ collapse]
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Source: Asma -
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Source: Asma -
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Source: Yosef -
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Source: Abo Mouen -
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Source: Mahmod -
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Source: Montaser -
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Source: Tareq Rabee
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the city of Deir al Balah (دير البلح), for which the generic coordinates are: 31.417639,34.350276. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.