Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0761

Incident date

October 30, 2023

Location

شارع صلاح الدين, Salah al Din Street, Deir al Balah, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.470545, 34.432676 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Exact location (other) level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

A car carrying civilians was allegedly hit by an Israeli Military tank that fired a shell at it on Salah al-Din Street in the Gaza Strip on the 30th of October 2023, killing between three and six people.

While many sources reported that the car contained three civilians, Abderrahman.zoom reported that four civilians were in the car. Additionally, Dr. Islam Saeed Barakat mentioned the death of his brother’s wife alongside his nephew, his nephew’s wife, his niece, and their children who were killed while travelling in a car on Salah al-Din Street near Natzarim Martys Junction.

In a post reporting the death of multiple members of the Badrasawy family, a relative Mr. Khaled Ali Juifel reported that 34-year-old Ahmed Atef al-Badrasawy was killed in the shelling of a car on Salah Al-Din road. The deaths of the other relatives are assessed by Airwars in a separate incident that occurred earlier that day, ISPT0749, in which 22 civilians were killed including Ahmed’s two-year old daughter.

A video taken by journalist Youssef al-Saifi, and published by official Palestine TV shows an alleged Israeli tank fire at a car near the “Natzarim” intersection on Salah al-Din Street. The car can be seen driving up the street and then stops suddenly when the tank comes into view. While attempting to turn, the car is then struck by artillery fire. @Yasser_Gaza reported that this video was the only evidence of Israeli incursion onto Salah Al-Din Road.

Dr. Islam Saeed Barakat shared the same video alongside a picture of a man with severe burn wounds, lying on a hospital bed.

A witness told AFP that the tanks entered the Zaytun district, cutting an important road from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip for over an hour. @IbtihalGaza reported the incident and advised readers to take the coastal route via Al-Rasheed Street instead of travelling on Salah Al-Din Road.

The news agency, Al Hurra, reported that it had approached the IDF for a statement and had not received one.

According to ‘warfareanalysis’, on Twitter, the tank that fired at the car with the civilians withdrew 10 minutes after its incursion.

Salah al-Din Street is the main road that connects Gaza, from North to South. According to geolocation conducted by @oualido and posted on X/Twiiter, the incident took place in the daytime near the Natzarim/Martyrs junction in the village of Juhr al-Dik in the central Gaza Strip.

This incident was reported by Bellingcat and independently geolocated by Benjamin den Braber, a Senior Investigator at the Centre for Information Resilience.

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 centralising the datasets.

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

The incident occured during the day.

The victims were named as:

Ahmed Atef al-Badrasawy أحمد عاطف البدرساوي
34 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 803120625

Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention a strike on Salah al Din Street (شارع صلاح الدين). This incident was independently geolocated by Benjamin den Braber (@hengenahm), a Senior Investigator at the Centre for Information Resilience. Satellite imagery shows the strike location at the following exact coordinates: 31.470545, 34.432676.

  • Imagery:
    @hengenahm

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Ground operation
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3 – 6
  • (2–3 children2 women1–2 men)
  • 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 (46) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (33) [ collapse]

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    Source: Alhurra news
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    Source: @AJA_Egypt
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    Source: @Moin_Awad
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    Source: @Moin_Awad
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    Source: @oualido
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    Source: AJA.Egypt
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    Source: Husnul Nampe
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    Source: @ja31ck
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    Source: Al Jazeera News
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Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Ground operation
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3 – 6
  • (2–3 children2 women1–2 men)
  • 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 (46) [ collapse]