During the morning of Thursday, October 26, 2023, an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Abu Shamala family residency and neighbouring homes on al-Bair street in the Western Camp, Block 6, west of the city of Khan Younis, resulted in at least 51 civilians killed, including at least 18 children and 19 women, and more than 100 injured.

According to Safa PS, at 11:47 am, a large number of people killed in the incident were brought to the Nasser Medical Complex in the southern Gaza Strip. After the repeated attacks on the homes of the families of Abu Shamala, al-Nabris, al-Kadhmi and others in the surrounding area, the Gaza Interior Ministry, at 1:34 pm announced that 22 Palestinians had been killed and more than a hundred injured people were rescued from under the rubble. Mahmood Mansoor and Amad media reported that medical and rescue teams were still searching for missing people, while @Ramadan_Hamed7 put the number of killed at “more than 30.”

The social media accounts of friends and the Abu Shamala family’s members have helped Airwars identify the named of 51 civilians killed in the strikes in Khan Younis.

Hla Yasser in a Facebook post identified 22 members of her family that were killed in the attack. Amongst those killed were her grandfather, Professor Nayef Mahmoud Abu Shamala (between 78 and 85 years old), her grandmother 70-year-old Fathia Muhammad Abu Shamala, and their seven children: sons 40-year-old Muhammad Nayef Abu Shamala, 51-year-old Zuhair Nayef Abu Shamala, 33-year-old Mahmoud Nayef Abu Shamala and 38-year-old Hassan Nayef Abu Shamala, and daughters 50-year-old Dawlat Nayef Abu Shamala, 48-year-old Aisha Nayef Abu Shamala, and 30-year-old Omaima Nayef Abu Shamala. Omaima’s daughter 2-year-old Malak Al-Saidi was also killed, as well as Mahmoud’s wife 34-year-old Fadia Salah Al-Laham, and Hassan’s two sons 6-year-old Muhammad Hassan Nayef Abu Shamala and 2-year-old Ismail Hassan Nayef Abu Shamala and daughter 4-year-old Salma Hassan Nayef Abu Shamala.

“Tonight, the angels of the Most Gracious will receive one of their beloved angels on earth, and heaven will sparkle with lights, and the beautiful and sweetest melodies will be played by the beautiful houris in welcoming the beloved,” wrote Riyad Awad on their Facebook account. In memory of Nayef Abu Shamala, they shared an image of him and offered condolences. The post described him as patient, hard-working, and as a “respected worker with a kind heart.”

Fadi Al-Laham Abu Salah mourned the loss of his “patient and contented” sister, Fadia, who was killed when the airstrikes “wiped out an entire residential square of civilians” and added an image of Fadia’s body in a white bag.

Hla Yasser also named her cousin 12-year-old Nayef Ibrahim Abu Shamala, her uncle’s wife Baraa Naama Al-Shamali, her other uncle’s wife Aisha al-Zaqzouq, Aisha’s two daughters 14-years-old Hind Abdullah Abu Shamala and 11-years-old Lama Abdullah Abu Shamala, and her uncle Hussein’s wife 24-year-old Riman Wasfi Kodeih as among those killed. Riman’s displaced family, her mother 57-year-old Etaf Khalil Kodeih and sister 16-year-old Menna Wasfi Kodeih, were also killed. A 32-year-old woman named Naama Omar Atwa al-Shamali, possibly a relative of Baraa, was also memorialized by Ahmad Isma’il.

Ahmed Kodeih wrote a Facebook post where he mourned the loss of his mother Etaf Khalil Kodeih and his sisters Riman and Menna. He described them as the “hearts that are impossible to forget” and expressed how their loss was “painful and cruel and will never go away”. In the following, he honoured the life of his mother: “My mother, it is enough for me that you left me your reputation and your kindness among people, so that everyone who knows you will remember you by mentioning your virtues and remembering your kindness that no one will forget.” He further expressed how he never experienced such a “burden on his heart” and asked God to make it easier and “relieve [his] soul”, adding an image of himself with his beautiful mother, who is pictured in a hijab smiling at the camera.

Hlla Yasser added that displaced people who were relatives of her uncle Muhammad Abu Shamala’s wife Heba Abdel Moneim Negm were among those killed along with her family. Hassan J S Mahdi’s Facebook post, thus, identified the names of her family whose lives were lost in the attack: 42-year-old Mayada Hisham Abd Rabbo Negm (al-Kilani), her two daughters 12-year-old Maria Mahdi Abdel Moneim Negm and 6-year-old Ahmed Mahdi Abdel Moneim Negm, Maysarah Negm (wife of Mr. Zuhair Abdel Moneim Negm), and 74-year-old Hajja Rasmiyyah Negm (Umm Tayseer, wife of the late Hajj Abdel Moneim Negm).

45-year-old Imad al-Din Abdel Latif al-Sayyid Ahmed (husband of Rawiya Abdel Moneim Najm) and their two daughters 16-year-old Wajad Imad al-Sayed Ahmed and 18-year-old Renad Imad al-Sayed Ahmed were also among those killed.

Additional names of other members of the Abu Shamala family were identified by Mohammad Ismail Shamala who lost his uncle 60-year-old Asaad Abu Shamala, his aunt 53-year-old Emityaz Ibrahim Abu Shamala, and their son Abdul Rahman Assad Abu Shamala. A condolence message from Raed Ibrahim added Asaad and Emityaz’s other son 17-year-old Hussein Asaad Abu Shamala and their daughter 26-year-old Maram Maram Assad Abu Shamala to the list of those killed, and another list included the name Habib Abdul Rahman Asaad Abu Shamala, child of Abdul Rahman Assad Abu Shamala, as killed.

The Hatem al-Taie Elementary School paid condolences to the Abu Shamala family for the loss of Emityaz Abu Shamala who they described as “the educator of generations, the distinguished teacher” along with an image of Emityaz either presenting or receiving an award. Another image posted by Mrs. Walaa Al-Zatma shows Emityaz among what appear to be her students, young girls, presenting her with a gift.

Adnan Skaik wrote a post mourning the life of his friend and colleague Abdul Rahman Asaad Ayman Shamala and his family, along with an image of Abdul Rahman, a young man.

‎Mustafa Sayed Almalawan posted a video of the young Hussein speaking to the camera from before he was killed, looking happy.

19-year-old Aya Marwan Abu Shamala was also killed alongside her sister 9-year-old Shahad Marwan Abu Shamala, their brother 16-year-old Muhammad Marwan Abu Shamala and their mother Umm Mahmoud Abu Shamala.

Mona Abdelrahman Abu Shamala, her son Amjad and her son Muhammad were killed, as was Mona’s sibling Ghassan Abdelrahman Abu Shamala.

Atef Hani Barbakh memorialized his professor Ghassan Abu Shamala, whom he described him as a “caring father,” along with images of Ghassan, a middle-aged man, in what appears to be a schoolyard. Journalist Kamel Gharib also mourned Ghassan, who he described as a “former volleyball player.”

A condolence message on Facebook from Braa Sameer added the ambulance officer 49-year-old Nafez Muhammad al-Natour and his 4-year-old daughter Aseel Nafez al-Natour to the list of those killed in Khan Younis – Nafez is pictured in his EMS uniform.

Teacher and professor Suhaila Muhammad Abu Shamala who worked at UNRWA’s Khan Yunis Preparatory Girls School was also named as a victim of the attack by @amalasaq, who paid tribute to her teacher on her Twitter/X account: “Over the years, generations have graduated, including me, my sister, my cousins, the daughters of my neighbourhood, and many, many friends. No, by God, we will not forget.” Another student of Suhaila named Esraa Mohammed also memorialized his “teacher, nanny, and friend” Mrs. Suhaila.

2-year-old Akram Saleh Abu Shamala, 23-year-old Amjad Tayseer Obaid, and 2-year-old Julia Amjad Jamil Abu Hassan were also named by local sources as among those killed.

Al Jazeera Egypt shared a video of aerial footage that documented the destruction and collapse of the Abu Shamala home along with other nearby homes, leveling what appears to be a whole residential square. Hatem Abu [Shamala] also posted a video of what appears to be the immediate aftermath of the strike – dust is clouding the air and local people are digging through a large pile of dust-covered building remnants, fully collapsed. @WLbir shared a graphic video of dozens of people carrying the remains of one of the victims, who visibly suffered a severe head injury.

Mahmoud R Abu Shamala, a victim of the bombing, suffered broken ribs, burns to his feet and back, and stitches “six missiles and explosive barrels” which destroyed the area.  who was rescued from under the rubble, testified that the area was destroyed by “6 missiles and explosive barrels”. Mahmoud, a young man, also posted an image of himself covered in black at what appears to be the site of the destruction. Hatem Abu Shammala in his Facebook post shared a video of the area that portrayed destruction and mentioned that four of the missiles struck all at once.

@WLbir who has shared a video of rescue efforts has tweeted that the destruction came ‘without warning’.

Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which include national ID numbers. Since October 26, 2023 the MoH has released six lists, along with an additional list of medical professionals, which was released on September 17, 2024. Airwars is matching individuals to the first list where their name appeared. In regard to this incident, names are matched to the second ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ list, which was released on January 7th, 2024.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed air strikes to Israeli forces. According to @WLbir, the strike occurred “without warning.”