Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Around midnight on Thursday, October 26th 2023, at least 12 civilians, including at least three women, were reportedly killed and a number of others were injured in an alleged Israeli airstrike that hit homes of the Abu Hasira and Abdel Latif families on al-Nafaq Street, near the al-Tawhid and Sunnah Mosque and “al-Ashi” carpentry in central Gaza City.
Shehab Agency was the first to report on the incident at 12:07 AM on Thursday, writing about “martyrs and injuries.” This information was later confirmed by the Gaza Interior Ministry.
Whilst Jordanian news agency Roya News, citing the Gaza Interior Ministry, reported that nine Palestinians had been killed in the strike, at least twelve individuals were reported killed by family and friends posting online. Resident Adlat Abdel Moati reported that “nearly 50” had died after “a fire belt shook the area at night, resulting in the demolition of three entire houses, killing their occupants, our neighbors…all of whom were martyred.” Adlat identified two of the homes as belonging to the Abu Hasira and Abu Latif families.
In addition to those killed, multiple sources, including Roya News, citing the Gaza Interior Ministry, reported that “a number of others” had been wounded in the airstrike. Khabar24 Agency also reported that the strike on the Abu Hasira and Abu Latif homes resulted in a number of martyrs and injuries. Accompanying the testimony, Khabar24 shared an image of man, dressed in black, blood visible on his face, arms, and legs, being wheeled into what appears to be a hospital.
Airwars identified the following eight individuals based on tributes posted on social media: 51-year-old Dr. Nahed Azat Abdel Abdel Latif, his wife Dr. Umm Muhammad al-Zard, and their children: 21-year-old daughter Nadia Nahed Azat Abdel Latif and daughter Noura Nahed Azat Abdel Latif were named among the sources. The following names were found among Ministry of Health lists of the dead released on January 7th 2024; while the list does not provide the circumstances of death for lists of fatalities, based on the familial matches and references in sources to additional family members killed in the incident, Airwars deems it likely that 19-year-old daughter Nada Nahed Azat Abdel Latif, 11-year-old daughter Rasha Nahed Azat Abdel Latif, and 15-year-old son Muhammad Nahed Azat Abdel Latif were also killed in the incident. Multiple sources, including @RaghadSaid26, explicitly mentioned that “Dr. Nahed Abdel Latif and his entire family were removed from the civil registry.”
Based on open source testimony, Dr. Nahed Abdel Latif’s brother Ahed Azat Abdel Latif (Abu Hamza) was also killed, along with his wife and children. Airwars was unable to identify the names of Abu Hamza’s wife and children, though the Arabic word used to refer to the Abu Hamza’s children takes the plural form, rather than the dual. In the absence of names, Airwars is recording three as the minimum number of children killed from the Latif family.
Several friends and relatives paid tribute to those killed on social media. University lecturer Dr. Nahed Abdel Latif was described in a Facebook post by former student Dalia Nader as “one of the best, kindest, favourite and most compassionate doctors who taught me at university. You cannot imagine how generous, kind, and gentle this person is.” She continued, writing, “He was like a father of the female students… My heart is tired of losing the people that we love. They were never numbers, nor will they be. Doctor Nahed will never be a number, neither he nor his family.”
Meanwhile, Rahaf Abed, also writing on Facebook, called Dr. Nahed Abdel Latif “A good teacher and father of scholarly stature and a cheerful character,” adding “We have never known you to be anything but kind, generous and honest.” Rahaf shared an image of the late Nahed – a middle-aged man with grey hair, in glasses, wearing a checked shirt and beige trousers, presenting in front of female students.
Rahaf Abed also paid tribute to Nadia Abdel Latif, writing, “Our calm and kind colleague, Nadia Abdullateif [Abdel Latif], we have not yet caught up with the joy of graduation, Nadia. May God have mercy on you and accept you, one of the best people who has ever passed through our lives. We will not forget you, I swear.”
A Facebook post from Shifaa Mohammed Abu Arqub described Dr. Nahed as “The kindest and best doctor in the whole department” and Noura and Nadia as having “morals, manners and calmness.”
Dr. Shaima Abu Shaban posted a tribute to the “uncles of my sons” Ahed and Nahed, along with their wives and children.
Reports and images from the scene of the strike indicate significant damage to al-Nafaq Street. Shehab News Agency, alongside several other sources, reported that the strike had resulted in “a major fire breaking out in a juice factory, a tire warehouse, and a number of stores and shops near the place.” The Palestinian Press Agency (SAFA) indicated that Khudair Painting and Painting Tools Stores, owned by Nader Khudair, were among the damaged shops.
Pictures posted on Facebook by the Palestinian Civil Defense showed Civil Defense fire crews battling flames from the resulting fire in the dark, among heavily damaged buildings.
Meanwhile, Omar El Qataa, posting on Twitter/X, wrote that “An entire neighbourhood was destroyed on top of its residents on al-Nafaq Street in Gaza City.” Omar also posted a video, taken sometime after the sun had risen on the morning of the strike, depicting multiple destroyed buildings. A large group of people search one of the buildings for survivors, whilst smoke and flames continue to rise from the surrounding buildings, which were also destroyed.
In addition to the destruction of the Abu Hasira and Abdel Latif family homes, the Shehab News Agency also reported that people were trapped beneath the rubble of the al-Masry family home, leading to search and rescue attempts.
According to Ahmed al-Omari, a friend of Dr. Nahed Abdel Latif, the strike on al-Nafaq Street was the second to hit the Abdel Latif family home “within a few days.”
Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on January 7, 2024.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to Israeli forces.
The incident occured around midnight.
The victims were named as:
Family members (11)
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the vicinity of Al Rifi Petrol Station (محطة الريفي) in Gaza City (مدينة غزة), for which the generic coordinates are: 31.514671, 34.466377. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (30) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (21) [ collapse]
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