At 12pm on Sunday, October 22nd 2023, between 22 and 31 civilians, including at least 11 children and eight women, were killed and others were injured after an alleged Israeli airstrike on the homes of the Abu Muailiq family in Deir Al-Balah, which is located in the middle of the Gaza Strip.

Amnesty International reported that three homes belonging to the Abu Muailiq brothers and their families were hit by an alleged Israeli airstrike. The incident took place south of Wadi Gaza, where residents of northern Gaza had been ordered to relocate on October 13th, 2023.

Amnesty International has identified the US-made Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), as the bomb used during the strike based on images of fragments of the munition found at the scene of the incident. Amnesty International weapons experts have estimated that the JDAM used weighed “at least 1000 lbs” and was likely manufactured in 2018.

Dr Bakr Youssef Abu Muailiq posted to Facebook detailing those killed during the incident. His wife, 44-year-old Islam Majed Kamel Abu Muailiq, also known as Umm Ghanam, was killed along with their four children: Duaa Bakr Youssef Abu Muailiq (daughter, 16), Lama Bakr Youssef Abu Muailiq (daughter, aged 11), Muhammad Bakr Youssef Abu Muailiq (son, aged 13) and Ghanem Bakr Youssef Abu Muailiq (son, aged 14)

The sister of Islam Abu Muailiq, Samar Majid Kamel Abu Muailiq, was also killed during the strike along with her five children: Rahaf Omar Youssef Abu Muailiq (daughter, aged 19), Raneem Omar Youssef Abu Muailiq (daughter, aged 17), Raghad Omar Youssef Abu Muailiq (daughter, aged 14), Sami Omar Youssef Abu Mailiq (son, aged 10) and Youssef Omar Youssef Abu Muailiq (son, aged 5).

Shorouk Majod Kamel Abu Muailiq, the sister of both Islam and Samar, was killed with her three children in the airstrike: Souad Hossam Ibrahim Salem (daughter, aged 9), Aya Hossam Ibrahim Salem (daughter, aged 7) and Ibrahim Hossam Ibrahim Salem (son, aged 6). 48-year-old Youlia Nicola Abu Muailiq, who was reported to be a Russian citizen, also died during the incident along with her daughter Dr. Lina Sami Abu Mualiq who was 23 years old.

The airstrike also killed numerous other members of the Abu Muailiq family including 22-year-old Kareem Yousef Salem Abu Muailiq and his 34-year-old brother Amar Yousef Salem Abu Muailiq, a 60-year-old woman called Raisa Abdullah Sulayman Abu Muailiq and Saheed Abdel Karim Mustafa Abu Muailiq, along with an unnamed woman referred to as the wife of Abu Ahed. The neighbour of the Abu Muailiq household – a 39-year-old man named Rajab Ghaz Mezyed – also died as a result of the strike.

Amnesty International reported that 19 people were killed in the incident, however, Airwars has identified 23 names of individuals reported as killed amongst sources. In line with Airwars methodology, the minimum number of civilians killed is 23, as 23 names were identified. The highest civilian casualty count was reported by Duaa Jarghon, in a post on Facebook, who wrote that Umm Ghanem and 30 other members of the Abu Mu’eileq family had been killed.

Amnesty International found no evidence that the homes of Abu Mu’eileq had any military purpose, or that Hamas was engaged in civilian ‘shielding’ at this location. The NGO described the strike as ‘unlawful’. Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, publicly announced that the incident was a ‘wake-up’ call for the Biden Administration into the role that US-made munitions are having in facilitating civilian casualties in Gaza.

@Al-BusairsAbuAli posted a video to Facebook showing the aftermath of the airstrike. It shows civilians digging through the rubble of demolished buildings, and carrying the remains of those killed during the incident. It is claimed ‘dozens’ were killed during the strike. @ShebabAgency posted a video to ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) that showed the bodies of four young children that were killed during the strike. Their names had been written onto their bodies while they were alive so that they could be identified if they were killed.

In an interview with Amnesty International, Dr Bakir Youssef Abu Muailiq – an ear, nose and throat specialist – said that he was working at the hospital when the airstrike that killed his wife and four children took place. Dr Bakr said there was no justification for the strike, and reaffirmed that his family was non-political: “we are doctors and scientists”. His statement aligns with Amnesty International’s assessment that there was no military objective to carrying out a strike on the Abu Muailiq households.

Samaher Abu Muailiq, the brother-in-law of Islam, told Amnesty International that he left the building a minute before it was struck. He reportedly sustained injuries to the neck and the back when he was thrown against a door by the force of the blast. Survivors of the incident told Amnesty International that no warning was given.

Since the incident, heartfelt testimonials have been posted online. @Abu Fares Ghareeb, posting on behalf of the “14 Million Conference”, commiserated the death of Islam Abu Muailiq and her children on Facebook, praising Islam’s kindness and good character. Islam was a member of the conference’s follow-up committee and the conference’s coordinator in the Gaza Strip.

Wesam Waleed, a member of the Abu Muailiq family, described a “tiring and exhausting night” where he did not sleep due to his heartbreak.

Amnesty International sent questions regarding the two attacks to the Israeli military’s spokesperson unit on 21 November. At the time of the publication of the Amnesty International report on December 5, 2023, no response had been received.

The names of 12 victims have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of names, ages and IDs of victims published on October 26, 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 at 12:00:00 local time.