Airwars assessment
On the night of October 30th 2023, at least 22 members of al-Badrasawi family that had been displaced from al-Bureji camp, including at least four women and between two and six children, were killed and a large number of civilians were wounded in an alleged Israeli airstrike on a home near the medical services headquarters in the Al-Zawaida area of the Gaza Strip.
Initial reports by Al Jazeera the day after the incident reported that 15 civilians were killed, mostly women and children. Later accounts put the death toll at 18, as reported in a post by a Facebook account named after the Al-Zawaida area. This account also reported that all victims including “a large number of wounded” were transported to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah
Airwars identified 22 victims by name through testimonies provided by their family members on social media.
62-year-old grandfather Atef Ismail al-Badrasawi was killed along with his sons: 23-year-old Abdullah Atef Ismail al-Badrasawi, 20-year-old Hamada Atef Ismail al-Badrasawi, and 25-year-old Mahmoud Atef Ismail al-Badrasawi, his two-year-old granddaughter, Hala Ahmed Atef al-Badrasawi, his daughter Maryam Atef Ismail al-Badrasawi (age unknown), Maryam’s husband, Mahmoud Issam Joyfel, and their three sons.
Umm Abd al-Rahman al-Badrasawi was killed along with four of her sons: 27-year-old Abdul Rahman al-Badrasawi, 25-year-old Ammar Taha al-Badrasawi, 19-year-old Alaa Taha al-Badrasawi, and Bahaa Taha al-Badrasawi, her daughter, 22-year-old Ghadeer Taha al-Badrasawi, Ghadeer’s husband, and their daughter, as well as a second daughter, 47-year-old Manal Taha al-Badrasawi, and her children.
Seven-year-old Mustafa Muhammad Essam Joyfel was identified as killed by a family member Mr. Khaled Ali Juifel. This child may be one of the unnamed victims above.
Al Jazeera identified the house as belonging to the Abu Shamala family as did the Twitter/X account @SbintQtr, however, this second source mentioned that displaced people from the Joyfel and Badrasawi families were amongst those killed.
Twitter/X users @ibrahimzalhaj1 and @Sa7atPlBreaking reported the house bombed in the alleged incident belonged to the Joyfel family. A family member called Khaled Ali Joyfel reported that the house belonged to Mr. Issam Joyfel (Abu Mahmoud)
A number of sources shared videos highlighting the scale of the strike. One clip, shared by Al Jazeera Live (@ajmubasher), @S_A2101, Palestinian Refugee Portal (@refugeesps), Palestine Eye and others shows lines of shrouded bodies, including those of at least three children, inside a makeshift tent. The floor of the space is covered in blood. Another video by Hani Abu Rezaq showed at least 18 bodies wrapped in white, surrounded by a crowd of mourners. The caption said “the Badrasawi family, a family from Gaza that was mass exterminated.”
@Bernadotte22 shared a similar video on Twitter/X, reporting that 18 victims of the Abu Shamala family had been killed.
On Facebook, Em Ahmad shared a video by Al Jazeera Palestine showing a man sobbing as he lifts the body of a small child into the air. In their post, Ahmad writes “Oh God, oh God, have mercy on your servants. My cousin Thaer bids farewell to the daughter of the martyr Ahmed al-Badrasawi.” The child in the video was likely two-year-old Hala Ahmed Atef Badrasawi.
In a post detailing the family connections and stories of displacement of those killed in the alleged Israeli strike, Mr. Khaled Ali Juifel explained that “The strike hit the front walls of the house, which included the Al-Badrasawi family, which was displaced from Al-Bureij camp in search of calm and safety.” Mr. Khaled listed the names of the victims killed in the incident, describing Maryam Atef Al-Badrasawi as the wife of Mahmoud Issam Joyfel. Mr Khaled reported that Maryam’s sister, Rasha, her mother and grandmother survived the incident.
This post also mentioned the death of Ahmed Atef Ismail Al-Badrasawi, another son of Atef Ismail Al-Badrasawi and the father of Hala Ahmed Atef Al-Badrasawi, reporting that he was killed later that day when his car was struck by an IDF tank on Salah Al-Din road. This incident is covered in ISPT0761.
Following the alleged strike, many loved ones shared their grief online. Youssef Badrasawi posted a photo showing multiple generations of the Badrasawi family smiling for the camera at what appears to be a school graduation ceremony.
Listing the names of some of those killed, fadi.albdrsawi.5 wrote “A new disaster for our family.” Highlighting the series of losses that this family has experienced, Lina Ahmed wrote “May God have mercy on you, uncle. My uncle Atef Ismail Al-Badrasawi and his children were martyred. Yesterday, his son Ahmed was martyred, and today his father and the rest of the family.”
Brancesh.abeer.9 mourned “my dear uncle Atef Ismail Al-Badrawi and his children and granddaughter,” sharing a photo collage with members of the al-Badrawi family, including a baby and a young man in graduation robes.
Ahmad Abu Shawish commemorated his friend Mahmoud al-Badrasawi in a powerful post, saying “I didn’t write. I have not said anything since the first day of the war until this moment, or that I offer my condolences or console anyone because all of Gaza is sad, but I did not know who this news was to me, and I wish it had not come 🥺💔 My brother and friend, my university companion and after university, may God make it easy for you, brother…”
Sharing a photo of Ammar Taha Al-Badrasawi at the beach, Mohammed.algamal.942 honoured his “school friend from whom I learned nothing but politeness and respect. May God have mercy on you and accept you, my love.”
Abu.akramalhaddad mourned “the martyr Abdul Rahman Taha Muhammad al-Badrasawi, the martyr Ammar Taha Muhammad al-Badrasawi, and their whole family” and shared charming photos of the two young men posing for the camera.
In one post, Lela.emad.5 writes that a bundle wrapped in white cloth contains “the remains of the Badrasawi family. That’s all that’s left of the family.” According to Quds News Network, “the family’s pieces were collected in this bag.”
Where possible, names have been reconciled with published Palestinian Ministry of Health lists with thanks to journalist Alexandre Horn from CheckNews for identifying relevant sources, and Data Tech for Palestine for centralizing the datasets.
Where sources identified the belligerent, the strike was attributed to Israeli forces.
The incident occured after midnight.
The victims were named as:
Family members (22)
Summary
Sources (30) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (24) [ collapse]
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Source: @ajmubasher -
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Source: Mohand H Dwedar -
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Source: Mohand H Dwedar -
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Source: Mohand H Dwedar -
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Source: Youssef Badrasawi -
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Source: Brancesh.abeer.9 -
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Source: Ahmad Abu Shawish -
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Source: Muhammad Abu Ishaq -
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Source: Abu.akramalhaddad -
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Source: Abu.akramalhaddad -
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Source: Mohammed.algamal.942 -
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Source: Mohamed Marwan -
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Source: Mohamed Marwan -
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Source: Mohamed Marwan -
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Source: Mohamed Marwan -
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Source: Lela.emad.5 -
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