On the evening of Wednesday, October 25th 2023, the Al-Akhras family home in the Al-Amal neighborhood of central Khan Younis was allegedly bombed by Israeli forces, killing at least 32 people, including twelve children, and injuring at least 12 others.

The wider Al-Akhras family members killed and injured in this incident were from a number of smaller family units. Many had reportedly been displaced from other parts of the Gaza Strip earlier in the war and had gathered in one home in Khan Younis to shelter together. The majority of family members killed and injured were mothers and their children.

Using information posted by family members on social media and data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities, Airwars has organised the family members in relation to their most immediate relatives. Using patronymic naming conventions, Airwars has identified most of the victims as likely the children and grandchildren of four brothers Asaad, Zaki, Muhammed and Samir, none of whom were listed as victims in this incident.

The family of Asaad Hussein Al-Akhras:

73-year old Hajja Halima Al-Akhras (wife of Asaad Hussein Al-Akhras) was killed alongside her daughter 41-year old Dalal Asaad Al-Akhras, her other adult daughter Iman Asaad Al-Akhras, Iman’s two sons Muhammad Fadi Rasmi Qudaih and five-year old Naseem Fadi Qudaih and her two daughters nine-year old Zainab Fadi Qudaih and ten-year old Ghazal Fadi Qudaih.

Halima and Asaad’s son Mazen Asaad Al-Akhras was injured while Mazen’s wife 43-year old Samaher Al-Akhras (Qadeeh) was killed. Three of Mazen and Samaher’s children, Dima Mazen Asaad Al-Akhras, Amir Mazen Asaad Al-Akhras, Amira Mazen Asaad Al-Akhras were injured in the same strike – according to a post by Riyad Naji, Mazen and Dima underwent surgery and survived, while Amir and Amira suffered “mild” injuries.

Weam Al-Akhras wrote a post on Facebook for members of their family, including Halima (Umm Mazen), describing, “when I was young, I was raised among you, aunt. You were always there for me, you and your daughters. You were raised and grew up in misery. May God choose you as a martyr.” Weam also described Samaher as “the strong, struggling woman who loves her ambition and morals, and loves raising her children” and Iman “my cousin, my companion, and everyone’s companion, are a laugh for our gatherings”, and mentioned that Dalal was “our bride who brought us together a while ago”. Latefa Ahmad shared a photo of Dalal Al-Akhras.

Other members of Asaad Hussein Al-Akhras’ family were also killed and injured in the incident. The daughter in law of Halima, 30-year-old Shaima Zuhair Muhammed Al-Akhras was killed along with her children, daughters, nine-year-old Layan Maher Asaad Al-Akhras and eight-year-old Leen Maher Asaad Al-Akhras, and son, five-year-old Nassim Maher Asaad Al-Akhras. Weam Al-Akhras referred to Shaima and her children as “my beloved ones” and stated that Layan, Leen, and Nassim were companions of her daughters.

Another daughter-in-law of Halima, 36-year-old Malika Salem Hussein Al-Akhras, and her daughter Jana Muhammad Asaad Al-Akhras were also among those killed.

Mohammad Al-Akhras wrote a memorial for his cousin Malika and her daughter and Hussein Abu Salem, a sibling of Malika, posted their last messages to Malika as well as Malika’s final posts on Facebook. A post from “Al Akhras family in the country” included an image of the young girl Jana doing a thumbs up.

The family of Samir Hussein Al-Akhras:

Other members of the Al-Akhras family were killed, including 49-year-old Soha Mohammed Khader Khudair (the wife of Samir Hussein Al-Akhras) and Soha and Samir’s children Nidaa Samir Hussein Al-Akhras and Haneen Samir Hussein Al-Akhras. Soha and Samir’s other children Aida Samir Hussein Al-Akhras, Abdul Rahman Samir Hussein Al-Akhras, Nabil Samir Hussein Al-Akhras, and Muhammad Samir Hussein Al-Akhras, and Muhammad’s wife Rasha were listed among the injured, with their injuries described as “mild”. Haneen was initially reported as having “mild injuries” by Riyad Naji but was reported as killed by multiple members of the Al-Akhras family.

Weam Al-Akhras wrote about their aunt Soha, “my neighbor and my beloved, is the kind woman who, whatever I ask or need, I will find her. The sweet prayers that I hear are sweet remembrances” and described Nadaa as “kind and compassionate. She loves my children and loves me very much. She was happy on her uncle’s wedding day when her laughter touched my heart … We won’t forget her.” Fadel Khudair also wrote a condolence message for his “beloved” sister Soha.

The family of Zaki Hussein Al-Akhras:

The daughter of Zaki Hussein Al-Akhras, 41-year old Kamelia Zaki Hussein Al-Akhras (the wife of Hamtu Al-Satri) was killed along with her daughter two-year-old Ward Hamtu Al-Satri, and her son three-year old Ahmed Hamtu Al-Satri. Abu Al-adham posted a tribute message for their brother’s wife Hamtu’s wife and two children.

Her sister-in-law Salma Al-Akhras Shaat (the wife of Muhammad Zaki) was killed alongside her one-year-old daughter Dahab Muhammad Zaki Hussein Al-Akhras.

The family of Muhammed Hussein Al-Akhras:

Abu Al-Adham reported the death of his cousin 42-year-old Rola Mahmoud Al-Akhras (Al-Satri) and the serious injury of her husband, Hussein Muhammad Hussein Al-Akhras. A post from Saja M El Sattari added that three of Rola’s sons 20-year-old Muhammad Hussein Muhammad Al-Akhras, 12-year-old Yamen Hussein Muhammad Al-Akhras and five-year-old Adam Hussein Muhammad Al-Akhras were also killed.

Two other sons of Rola and Huseein, Rahaf Hussein Muhammad Hussein Al-Akhras and Raafat Hussein Muhammad Hussein Al-Akhras were injured in the same incident – Rahaf and Raafat’s injuries were mild while Hussein underwent surgery and recovered.

Abu Al-Adham shared photos of the late Ward and Ahmed Al-Satri smiling in front of trees. Marah Al-Satari, daughter of the late Kamelia Al-Satari (and sibling of Ward and Ahmed), wrote in a post that “my mother Kamelia was completely different from all other mothers. She endured and bore a lot, and God gave her a child suffering from kidney failure. This suffering continued for 15 years… Since the beginning of the war, fear filled every place. It’s worth mentioning that my mother took Raafat to the hospital, fearing for him. Her concern was whether he would die due to the lack of Medical services in the hospitals. She spent her last days disturbed and tearful, a side we didn’t know – she was afraid of leaving all of us”. Marah shared photos of her mother and brother Ahmed smiling brightly.

Another member of the family, 45-year-old Raeda Lafi Youssef Al-Akhras and her children were also reported killed, though the names of her children were not publicly reported. Given the lack of further identifying information, these children have not been included in the minimum estimate of child fatalities. 31-year-old Alaa Ismail Naeem Al-Akhras Al-Kajk (wife of Haitham), and Rasmiya Barham Al-Akhras (Um Hussein) were also reportedly killed.

A post from Riyad Naji a day after the strike listed “families still under the rubble” and included “Yaqoub’s family is a large number of displaced people, some of the family of Muhammad Zaki Al-Akhras, some of Maher Asaad Al-Akhras’ family with displaced people, some of Mazen Asaad Al-Akhras’ family with displaced people, some of Asaad Hussein Al-Akhras’ family with displaced people, some of the family of Hajj Muhammad Hussein Al-Akhras, Some of the family of Ihab Muhammad Al-Akhras, some of the family of Hussein Muhammad Al-Akhras.” As many members of each family were listed among those killed and injured, it is likely that some of these casualties were included above.

Photos on Facebook showed the significant destruction of the incident, including a photo shared by Amira Samed showing a large fire after the bombing. Another photo showed the enormous crater created where the building had been, while crew cleared rubble off the street.

Where the sources identified the belligerent, sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces. A post from the Al-Akhras family Facebook page mentioned that the bombing occurred “without warning”.

Where possible, names have been reconciled with published Palestinian Ministry of Health lists released after the October 26th list and before the more extensive lists published in July 2024. With thanks to journalist Alexandre Horn from CheckNews for identifying relevant sources, and Data Tech for Palestine for centralising the datasets during this period.