During the morning of Tuesday, October 24th, 2023, an alleged Israeli airstrike hit the house of the Al-Hashash family located in Hashashashin area in Rafah, Gaza Strip, killing 11 members of the same family, including at least three women and three children, and reportedly injuring dozens of other civilians.

Safa News initially reported that ten people had been killed during the airstrike and a number of injured people had been transported to the Emirati Hospital. The account @Nsro_ posted to X/ Twitter, confirming the alleged airstrike on the Al-Hashash family house and reporting that there were “dozens of injuries” in the incident, however, the post did not provide an exact number of casualties. In line with Airwars’ methodology, ‘dozens’ is reflected in the 12 to 24 injury range.

Social media tributes by family relatives and friends helped to identify the names of 11 victims. In a post on Facebook, Nouraldeen Abu Hilal reported the names and ages of the victims. 76-year-old writer Dr. Abdul Karim Eid Salama Al-Hashash (Al-Zahrani) was killed alongside his four sons and two daughters. 37-year-old son Qais Abdul Karim Eid Al-Hashash (Al-Zahrani), 25-year-old son Talal Abdul Karim Eid Al-Hashash (Al-Zahrani); 21-year-old AArabah Abdul Karim Eid Al-Hashash (Al-Zahrani) and  28-year-old son Al-Nadr Abdul Karim Eid Al-Hashash (Al-Zahrani) were killed along with 35-year-old daughter Hudham Abdel Karim Eid Al-Hashash (Al-Zahrani) and 30-year-old daughter Salma Abdel Karim Eid Al-Hashash (Al-Zahrani). 

The wife of Qais, Suheir Salam Jabara was also killed alongside their small children –   four-year-old girl Arwa Qais Abdel Karim Al-Hashash (Al-Zahrani), one-year-old girl Alma Qais Abdel Karim Al-Hashash (Al-Zahrani), and three-year-old boy Athal Qais Abdel Karim Al-Hashash (Al-Zahrani). 

The brother of Suheir Salem Jabara, Anwar Jabara, mourned his sister in a post to Facebook, stating she was a nurse based at the Emirates Crescent Hospital. Anwar also confirmed that the young children killed in the incident, Arwa, Alma, and Athal, were the children of his sister Suheir and her husband Qais. Mohammad Ajbarah also mourned the death of Qais and his family, sharing his image of a young bearded man in a checked shirt.

Al Bukhari Mahmoud also posted to Facebook to mourn those killed in the alleged strike, writing that his uncle, Dr. Abdul Karim Eid Salama Al-Hashash, was a renowned Palestinian writer. A post to Facebook by Bushra Al-Hashash, also a relative, confirmed Abdul’s writing profession and shared an image of him.

In a further post to Facebook by Hussein Al-Hawari, an image of the late Dr. Abdul Al-Hashash was shared, with the caption paying respects to the deaths of the family. Dr. Al-Hashash, an elderly man with a grey beard, was captured wearing a black suit and a traditional Palestinian scarf against the backdrop of bookshelves.

Airwars reconciled the names with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023. However, the MoH list included the name Al-Zahrani rather than Al-Hashash. Given that other details matched, such as the first set of names and ages, the last name of the victims provided in the Ministry of Health list might be an error.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.

The incident occured in the morning.