At dawn on Thursday, October 26th 2023, at least 38 members of the al-Astal (al-Asatal) family across three generations, including seven women and twenty children, were killed and a number of civilians were injured in an alleged Israeli airstrike on their home in the al-Satar al-Gharbi area of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. An elderly couple Zakaria and Wahba lost their six children and fifteen grandchildren in the deadly attack.

On October 26th Shehab Agency began reporting that a number of people had been killed in an “Israeli bombing that targeted the home of the Astal family in Khan Yunis.” Other sources including the Twitter/X accounts of @TVManar1, @AlGhadTV, and @AlMayadeenLive also reported on the rising number of casualties being retrieved from the rubble of the al-Astal home.

A tweet by @hassaneslayeh quoted an announcement by the Ministry of the Interior in Gaza, saying “20 martyrs so far and a number of injuries in a bombing by [Israeli] aircraft on a house for the ‘al-Astal’ family in the western line of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip.”

At 9:21 PM on October 26, 2023, Twitter/X user @Alaqsavoice_Brk wrote that the number of civilians killed in the incident reached 39.

Multiple videos shared on social media showed bodies of some of the dead shrouded in cloth. One clip shared by @Yahya_Alqassas showed a group of men carrying a body away from the site of the alleged strike. They are surrounded by piles of rubble on either side of the street. The accompanying caption describes “The Astal family massacre this morning. More than 20 martyrs. There are dozens under the rubble. The search under the rubble is still ongoing… There are more than 50 people in the house.” Videos of the funeral shared by @Mohamed94446649, Khaled Abdel Salam Abu Walid and others showed numerous shrouded bodies on a lorry bed, followed by a funeral procession and burial.

Sufyan Akkad shared photos of multiple al-Astad family members, writing “a new carnage for the al-Astal family, and this is the result of the bombing of Abu Ali al-Astal and Abu Anwar al-Astal house, about 30 martyrs and there are people under the rubble”.

Social media tributes by relatives and friends helped to identify the names of 39 victims of the deadly attack. In addition to those killed, sources reported that multiple people were injured in the alleged strike.

74-year-old Zakaria Ali Ayesh al-Astal was killed alongside his wife, 65-year-old Wahba Abdullah Hussein al-Astal. Their four sons, Omar, Muhammad, Abdullah, and Muneeb, and two daughters, Alaa and Amal were also killed, as were their fifteen grandchildren.

Zakaria and Wahba’s 31-year-old son Omar Zakaria Ali al-Astal was killed along with his wife 25-year-old wife Nour Ibrahim Lawlah, their two-year-old son Amir Omar al-Astal and daughter, Nermin Omar al-Astal.

The day after the alleged Israeli strike, Phkhaled.waleed shared a smiling photo of Omar Zakaria al-Astal in a suit and wrote “Omar Zakaria al-Astal. That calm, cooperative, friendly, and helpful young man; simple easy; The owner of chivalry.. Are words enough for you, O Omar!! Omar died a martyr’s death with his parents, wife, children and relatives in a barbaric bombardment of their safe house..Goodbye, Omar. See you soon ..”

Zakaria and Wahba’s son Muhammad Zakaria Ali al-Astal (39) was killed alongside his son Ali Muhammad Zakaria al-Astal (3), and his three daughters, 14-year-old Jana Muhammad Zakaria al-Astal, 12-year-old Raghad Muhammad Zakaria al-Astal, and ten-year-old Layan (Lana) Muhammad Zakaria al-Astal.

One social media source mentioned Muhammad al-Astal as a “commander,” but there was no accompanying visual or descriptive evidence of him being a combatant. This has led Airwars to consider his combatant status as contested, reflected as 0-1 in our belligerent range.

Zakaria and Wahba’s 34-year-old son Abdullah Zakaria Ali al-Astal was also killed in the attack along with his 25-year-old wife, Wafa Abdel Qader Ahmed al-Astal and their three sons: seven-year-old Yamen Abdullah Zakaria al-Astal, three-year-old Zakaria Abdullah Zakaria al-Astal, and infant Rayan Abdullah Zakaria al-Astal who was less than one year old.

Zakaria and Wahba’s 36-year-old daughter, Alaa Zakaria Ali al-Astal and her husband, 37-year-old Hisham Hussein al-Astal were killed along with their 14-year-old son Riyad Hisham al-Astal and 11-year-old daughter Layan Hisham al-Astal.

Yehia Z al-Astal shared a photo of Hisham Hussein al-Astal embracing his son, Riyad, writing “Tonight, we were saddened by another massacre against our family, in which entire families were killed, some of whom are still martyrs under the rubble. May God reward us in our affliction of losing our dearly beloved cousin Hisham Hussein al-Astal and most of his family members.”

Zakaria and Wahba’s 29-year-old son Muneeb Zakaria Ali al-Astal and their 24-year-old daughter Amal Zakaria Ali al-Astal were also killed.

Mohammed N Saqqa shared a photo of Muneeb al-Astal wearing sunglasses on the beach, writing “Peace be upon your good face that has disappeared forever. The martyr/ Muneeb Zakaria Al-Astal Oh God, make his grave gardens of Paradise.”

Zakaria and Wahba’s 40-year-old daughter-in-law Safiya Anwar Bakir was killed along with three of her sons, 15-year-old Muhammad Ali Zakaria al-Astal, 10-year-old Majd Ali Zakaria al-Astal, and 14-year-old Zakaria Ali Zakaria al-Astal.

Zakaria and Wahba’s son-in-law, 49-year-old Majed Ahmed Abd al-Majid Yaqoub and his son, 13-year-old Muhannad Majid Yaqoub were killed as well. Ismail Yacob posted a photo of Majid and Muhammad Yaqoub dressed in suits, writing “those we love are gone. The martyrdom of my brother, Majid Yaqoub, and his son, Muhannad Majid Yaqoub.”

53-year-old Ibrahim Radwan Lawlah and his 46-year-old wife, Hanaa Hussein al-Astal, were killed along with their three sons, 24-year-old Alaa Ibrahim Radwan Lawlah, 21-year-old Radwan Ibrahim Radwan Lawlah, and 15-year-old Muhammad Ibrahim Radwan Lawlah.

The death of Radwan, who was a designer and used to work in a printing press, was mourned in the Facebook post by Aass646366. The post said: “The beloved, the one with the highest determination. A co-worker at the printing press and one of its first workers and supporters, Radwan Lawlah.. May God accept you, my beloved,” and was accompanied by an image of the advertisement of the services provided by Radwan.

The images of Ibrahim, Alaa, Radwan and Muhammad can be seen in a Facebook post by Layan Samer. These were shared alongside images of Nour Ibrahim’s small sons, Amir and Nermin, and an accompanying caption stated that “it is with great pride that the Loulah family mourns its martyred son, Ibrahim Radwan Loulah and his family, in the bombing in Khan Yunis.”

Among the victims of the deadly attack were also 54-year-old Anwar Muhammad Ali al-Astal and his 19-year-old son, Bilal Anwar Muhammad al-Astal as well as two sisters, a 11-year-old Sama Salim Yassin al-Astal and two-year-old Ruaa Salim Yassin al-Astal.

Among the victims killed in the airstrike was a 14-year-old girl Abrar Saleh Yusuf al-Agha known for her knowledge of the Holy Book Quran. The Nour Al-Islam Memorization Center of the al-Awda Mosque shared a photo of Abrar Saleh Al-Agha in a white hijab holding a certificate for memorizing the Quran, writing that Abrar “became a martyr today after the [Israeli military] committed a massacre that claimed the lives of dozens of martyrs.”

The deadly attack also killed a small boy Abdul Rahman Muhammad Basman Saqr whose exact age is unknown. Saqr Famil Association Facebook account shared an image of the young smiling child in a khaki T-shirt, wriing “We ask God Almighty to cover him with His vast mercy and to inspire his family and loved ones with patience and solace.”

Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.

There were some discrepancies that have prevented a complete matching of certain names. Radwan Lawlah may be the 21-year-old Radwan Ibrahim Radwan Lawlah (ID: 408536233). The Gazan Ministry of Health list, however, specify that Radwan was female. The Radwan mentioned in this incident is male.

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

The local time of the incident is unknown.