Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0446

Incident date

October 21, 2023

Location

دير البلح, Deir Al Balah, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.418431, 34.355579 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Exact location (via Airwars) level. Continue to map

Referenced in

Airwars assessment

On 21st October 2023, the home of the Abu Assad family, adjacent to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and on Abu Assad Street in Deir Al Balah, was reportedly damaged by an alleged Israeli airstrike, killing seven civilians and injuring “dozens” others.

Reporting of the incident identified the killing of mother Hilala Ibrahim Abu Assad and her 12-year-old twin children, daughter Aseel Abdel Nasser Abu Assad and son Ahmed Abdel Nasser Abu Assad, by the strike. A Facebook post from Dr. Sahar Saadi Kahil referred to Hilal as a “distinguished Tajweed teacher, memorizer of the Book of God and certified by many of the ten recitations” and posted an image of her with a Palestinian flag. Family members also provided condolences on the death of Hilala and her twin children.

The Palestinian Information Center (@PalinfoAr) reported that “7 citizens died after the Israeli [forces] bombed the Abu Assad family home next to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.”

According to Aljazeera (@AJArabicnet), “all members of the Abu Assad family were injured” while other sources reported on “a number of injuries” resulting from the strike and Khabar 24 identified “dozens” of injuries.

The aftermath of the strike was posted by Palestine Dialogue Network (@paldf) and Abu Kareem News showing the building reduced to rubble with local civilians and rescue workers sorting through the rubble. A post by Nuseirat Panorama showed the arrival of injured civilians, including a young man and an elderly man, at a local hospital while images posted by Nader Saad Abdul Haseeb show a woman with an injury to her face. Graphic images of a dead infant and a dead child arriving at the hospital were also posted by Nuseirat Panorama.

On October 9th, 2024 the Airwars Investigations Unit, along with Sky News, published an investigation geolocating and matching airstrike footage released by the Israeli military with incidents in the Airwars archive. In total, Airwars’ team identified 17 strikes leading to civilian harm from the first month of the war, of which the Israeli military itself had published footage. This strike was among the 17. As such this incident has been reclassified as a declared Israeli strike, rather than a likely one.

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 a belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to the Israeli military. A Facebook post from Shadi stated that the strike occurred “without any warning”.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (3)

Hilala Ibrahim Abu Assad هلالة إبراهيم أبو أسد
Adult female killed
Aseel Abdel Nasser Abu Assad أسيل عبد الناصر أبو أسد
12 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 431684463
Ahmed Abdel Nasser Abu Assad أحمد عبد الناصر أبو أسد
12 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 431684471

Geolocation notes (3) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention a residential building being struck in the vicinity of Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital (مستشفى شهداء الاقصى) within Deir Al Balah (دير البلح). Analysing audio-visual material from sources, we have narrowed down the exact location of the strike to these coordinates:  31.418431, 34.355579. The Airwars team matched these exact coordinates to a screenshot taken at 0:12 of the strike video shared by the IDF to Twitter/X (see strike reports below).

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  • Imagery:
    PalinfoAR

  • Imagery:
    Shadi PS

  • Imagery:
    Abu Kareem News

Summary

  • Strike status
    Declared strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Infrastructure
    Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    7
  • (2–3 children1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    3–24
  • 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.
  • Known belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (26) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (46) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @PalinfoAr

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    Source: @PalinfoAr

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @PalinfoAr

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @PalinfoAr

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @PalinfoAr

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @PalinfoAr

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @PalinfoAr

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @PalinfoAr

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @PlusQuds

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @paldf

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @paldf

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @paldf

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @paldf

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Panorama

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    Source: Panorama

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    Source: Panorama

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    Source: Panorama

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    Source: Panorama

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    Source: Panorama

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Panorama

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu kareem

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu kareem

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Abu kareem

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: NaderSaadAbdulHaseeb

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: NaderSaadAbdulHaseeb

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: NaderSaadAbdulHaseeb

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: NaderSaadAbdulHaseeb

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: NaderSaadAbdulHaseeb

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Khabar24

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Islamic station

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Islamic station

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Islamic station

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Islamic station

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Islamic station

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Umm aboud

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Saher

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Wafaa

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Israeli Military Assessment:

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

Original strike reports

Israeli Military
Official source

Attacking operational infrastructures of Hamas Etc

Summary

  • Strike status
    Declared strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Infrastructure
    Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    7
  • (2–3 children1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    3–24
  • 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.
  • Known belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (26) [ collapse]