Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0550

Incident date

October 24, 2023

Location

منزل عائلة زعرب غرب رفح, home of Zorob family, west of Rafah, Gaza strip, Rafah, the Gaza Strip

Airwars assessment

During the afternoon of Tuesday, October 24th 2023, 16 people were reportedly killed and 16 others were injured as a result of an alleged Israeli bombing on the home of the Zorob family, near Al-Aqsa station, west of Rafah, Gaza Strip.

In multiple posts on social media, family members reported the names of 16 individuals reportedly killed in the incident including engineer Abdullah Musa Mahmoud Zorob, his wife Lamis Mahmoud Noman Zorob, and their three sons 5-year-old Musa Abdullah Musa Zorob, 2-year-old Ibrahim Abdullah Musa Zorob and 7-year-old Muhammad Abdullah Musa Zorob.

The same post also reported that many other members of the Zorob family had been killed, including Abdullah’s mother, 53-year-old Salwa Musa Ibrahim Zoroub, his sisters Fatima Musa Mahmoud Zoroub and Islam Musa Mahmoud Zoroub, and his brothers 17-year-old Omar Musa Mahmoud Zoroub and 24-year-old Muhammad Musa Mahmoud Zoroub. Mohammed Zorob also stated that three children were killed and all were brothers; this included Abdullah’s nephews Muhammad Ahmed Khalil Zorob (who was 8 or 9 years old), Abdullah Ahmed Khalil Zorob (who was one year old) and Bilal Ahmed Khalil Zorob who was four years old. Murad Zourob also reported on the death of 1-year-old Hamsa Bilal Khalil Zoroub, 12-year-old Hala Bilal Khalil Zoroub and another victim by the name of Hala Bilal Khalil Zoroub. Though similar in English, the names are spelled differently in Arabic; it remains possible, however, that this was a repeated name.

The initial death toll was thought to be lower. Facebook user Ayoub Chemali first reported that seven victims had been killed and dozens had been injured in the incident. Another account, Awdeh plus+, initially reported that five people were killed and 16 people were injured.

Family member Sherein Zourob, reported in a post on Facebook that many remained in critical condition and others were buried under the rubble. Magda Mahmoud reported in a post on Facebook that the four victims had been taken to Al Najjar Hospital following the incident and Mouaz Al Hamas shared a photo of the four victims, including at least two children, arriving at the hospital and being carried inside.

Another hospital, the Kuwaiti Hospital, reported that a number of victims, both killed and injured, had been brought in following the incident. Kuwaiti Hospital also shared images of severely injured children being treated.

A family member named Mahdi Zorob shared images on Facebook of the destroyed home and victims bodies being removed from the rubble. The caption reported that 11 family members had been killed.

Images of the aftermath of the incident, taken by Fares Abu Sharakh, show the scale of the destruction. A large sandy crater can be seen alongside significant damage to the neighbouring buildings.

Family members paid tribute to the victims and gave their condolences to Hajj Mahmoud Zorob, Salwa’s husband, and Abdullah, Islam and Fatima’s father, on the deaths of his family members. In a tribute post on Facebook, Baraa M Barhoom, described Abdullah Musa Mahmoud Zorob as an educator and mentor and attached an image of Abdullah from before the incident. Adel Zourob described Abdullah as being “dedicated to his family and people”.

Though local sources including Sherein Zourob, Omer albargi and Mahdi Zourob reported on the Israeli bombing, many of the sources conflicted on the number of people that had been killed. The exception was Murad Zourob, who listed all 16 names. Journalist Adel Zourob stated the ages of the three children, @Hamzaalnamla tweeted images of the house that was destroyed and Ayoub Chemali post included a video of the scenes from the site of the bombing.

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.

When sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military.

The incident occured in the afternoon.

The victims were named as:

Family members (16)

Abdullah Musa Mahmoud Zorob عبدالله موسي محمود زعرب
Adult male killed
Lamis Mahmoud Noman Zoroub لميس محمود نعمان زعرب
Adult female killed
Muhammad Abdullah Musa Zorob محمد عبدالله موسي زعرب
7 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 436934384
Musa Abdullah Musa Zorob موسي عبدالله موسى زعرب
5 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 439073214
Ibrahim Abdullah Musa Zorob ابراهيم عبدالله موسى زعرب
2 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 445716228
Salwa Musa Ibrahim Zourub سلوى موسي ابراهيم زعرب
53 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 927821991
Fatima Musa Mahmoud Zoroub فاطمة موسي محمود زعرب
Age unknown female killed
Islam Musa Mahmoud Zoroub اسلام موسي محمود زعرب
Age unknown female killed
Omar Musa Mahmoud Zoroub عمر موسي محمود زعرب
17 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 424014231
Muhammad Musa Mahmoud Zoroub محمد موسي محمود زعرب
24 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 403698624
Muhammad Ahmed Khalil Zorob محمد احمد خليل زعرب
9 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 433568359
Abdullah Ahmed Khalil Zorob عبدالله احمد خليل زعرب
1 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 442917654
Bilal Ahmed Khalil Zorob بلال احمد خليل زعرب
3 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 445062649
Hamsa Bilal Khalil Zoroub همسة بلال خليل زعرب
1 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 444417505
Hala Bilal Khalil Zoroub هلا بلال خليل زعرب
Age unknown female killed
Hala Bilal Khalil Zourob حلا بلال خليل زعرب
12 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 432130714

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Infrastructure
    Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    16
  • (9–12 children2–5 women2 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    16
  • 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.
  • Impact
    Education
    Impact on services or infrastructure relating to education, health or food supply. See methodology note for details.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (40) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (49) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @Hamzaalnamla1
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @Hamzaalnamla1
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mahmoud zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Baraa m barhoom
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sherein zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Magda Mahmoud
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Magda Mahmoud
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Magda Mahmoud
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Magda Mahmoud
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Magda Mahmoud
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Magda Mahmoud
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mouaz al hamas
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mouaz al hamas
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mouaz al hamas
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mouaz al hamas
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mouaz al hamas
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mahdi Zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mahdi Zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mahdi Zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: United of zourob family
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: United of zourob family
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: United of zourob family
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: United of zourob family
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Kuwait hospital
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Kuwait hospital
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Kuwait hospital
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Kuwait hospital
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Kuwait hospital
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Kuwait hospital
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Kuwait hospital
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Muawia Zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Journalist adel zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Yaser Zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Lama om yazan
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Lama om yazan
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Journalist Adel zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Journalist Adel zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Journalist Adel zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Journalist Adel zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Journalist Adel zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Journalist Adel zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Journalist Adel zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Journalist Adel zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Journalist Adel zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Journalist Adel zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Journalist Adel zourob
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: United zourob family
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

Israeli Military Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Infrastructure
    Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    16
  • (9–12 children2–5 women2 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    16
  • 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.
  • Impact
    Education
    Impact on services or infrastructure relating to education, health or food supply. See methodology note for details.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (40) [ collapse]