Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0618

Incident date

October 25, 2023

Location

شارع الجية في بلدة القرارة, Al Jiyeh Street, Al Qarara, Khan Younis, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.381774, 34.335008 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Exact location (via Airwars) level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On Wednesday, October 25th 2023, at least three people were killed and at least nine were injured in an alleged Israeli strike on a home on Al Jihyeh Street in the Al Qarara area of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip. The home reportedly belonged to Maher Abdul Rahman Awad (Abu Haitham).

Maha Awad’s wife, 56-year-old Dalal al-Shaer Awad was reportedly killed, along with their 38-year-old son, Muhammad Maher Awad, and her 30 or 31-year-old daughter, Noha Maher Awad. The names of those injured were not available via open sources.

At 11:30 am on October 25, the Palestinian Press Agency (Safa) reported “nine injuries in the bombing of a house in the town of al-Qarara.” Al Jazeera Egypt also reported the incident, alleging that the incident had killed and injured victims.

On Twitter/X, @shaabradio announced that casualties had resulted from a strike on “a house belonging to the Awad family.” Basmeh al-Farra also reported on Twitter/X that “a number of those injured were transferred from the targeting of an entire residential square to the Abu Awad family, al-Astal, and another family, and… martyrs and injuries were transferred from the place.” According to a post on Facebook by Ghada Elhenawy, at least one killed civilian arrived at Nasser Medical Complex after bombing of the Awad family home.

A Facebook account for the extended al-Awad Family shared a video taken in the aftermath of the alleged strike, showing the immense destruction as a crowd of people gathered at the site and searching through the scorched rubble. The post caption states that “with hearts filled with faith in God’s will and destiny, the Awad family at home and abroad mourns its martyrs”. Abdelrahman Zaher posted about “the martyrdom of my cousin, Muhammad Maher Awad, and his sister, Noha Maher Awad” and subsequently shared that “their mother/Umm Haitham Awad has now joined them.”

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.

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

The incident occured in the morning.

The victims were named as:

Family members (3)

Dalal al-Shaer Awad دلال الشاعر عواد
56 years old female killed
Muhammad Maher Awad محمد ماهر عواد
38 years old male Son of Dalal killed
Noha Maher Awad نهى ماهر عواد
31 years old female Daughter of Dalal killed Matched to MoH ID 803662006

Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention a residential building being struck on Al Jihyeh Street (شارع الجية) in the town of Al Qarara (بلدة القرارة ). Analysing audio-visual material from sources, we have narrowed the location down to the following exact coordinates: 31.381774, 34.335008.

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  • Imagery:
    Awwad family

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    IDP or refugee camp, Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3
  • Civilians reported injured
    9
  • 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.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (11) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (7) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Basmeh al-farra
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Basmeh al-farra
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Basmeh al-farra
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

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

    Source: Aljazeera egypt
  • 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
  • Civilian infrastructure
    IDP or refugee camp, Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3
  • Civilians reported injured
    9
  • 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.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (11) [ collapse]