Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0797c

Incident date

October 31, 2023

Location

منزل بجوار مسجد بلال بن رباح في حي الزيتون, House next to Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque in Al-Zeitoun neighborhood, Gaza, the Gaza Strip

Airwars assessment

On Tuesday, October 31, 2023, Tala Mounir Siam, an eleven-year-old girl, was killed and others were wounded in an alleged Israeli attack in the Al-Zeitoun neighbourhood.

According to a post by the Siam Family Facebook account, a house next to the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque was bombed leading to Tala’s death and causing injury to other members of the family. Information on these injuries is not known. In the post they appealed to their broader family network to send further information and asked that “God protect the family and its people”.

Following the news of Tala’s death, friends and family took to social media to mourn the loss of their loved one and to console her mother and her broader family. In one such post by Arafat Hamdan, solace was taken by sharing religious messages; in the post he shared that “To God we belong and to Him we shall return.” He also asked that God provide patience to his aunt – Tala’s mother.

Tala’s name was 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 15, 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 the strike to Israeli forces.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Tala Mounir Siam تالا منير صيام
11 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 432240901

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 child)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • 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 (5) [ collapse]

Israeli Military Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 child)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • 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 (5) [ collapse]