Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT050224o

Incident date

February 5, 2024

Location

منطقة بئر النعجة, Bir Al Naja area, North Gaza, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.541901, 34.488035 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On February 5th, 2024, two brothers, one of them a child, were reportedly injured by an alleged Israeli shooting while inspecting their house in the Bir Al Naja area in the northern Gaza Strip.

According to an Instagram post by @Tariq_al_deqes on February 5th, Obaida Abu Safiya, a 16-year-old boy, and his older brother were the victims of the attack when they went to find out if their home had been bombed. Sources said that they were directly shot at and left bleeding for three hours. Obaida managed to tie his leg with a piece of cloth to slow the bleeding and then crawled under fire to reach his brother and move him to a less dangerous place, saving both of their lives.

Between February 6th and 7th, similar reports surfaced from various Twitter/X users, including @qudsn, @Talalibrahim81, @EnasJABER19, and @osama71herz, as well as multiple Facebook pages such as Al Haya PS, Khabar24 news, Palestine life, Mebbani Abdelkader, Lamia Chaib, Akram Abumahmoud, Mohammad Taher Munad, Mguezz Mounir, and Mohammad Suleiman Salah al-Deen. These reports also circulated a video in which Obaida narrated the events. In the video, his brother is seen lying on a sofa with his left leg bandaged.

This incident has been graded as a “single source claim” and “weak” as all of the sources include the same video initially posted by Tariq_al_deqes without providing additional new information. Should further information come to light, Airwars will update this grading.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (2)

Obaida Abu Safiya عبيدة أبو صفية
16 years old male injured
Brother of Obaida Abu Safiya أخ عبيدة أبو صفية
Adult male injured

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the area of Bir Al Naja (منطقة بئر النعجة). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to find boundaries for the neighbourhood and to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Bir Al Naja are: 31.541901, 34.488035.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Ground operation
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Small arms and light weapons
  • 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 (14) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (13) [ collapse]

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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
    Ground operation
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Small arms and light weapons
  • 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 (14) [ collapse]