On 2 November 2023, an alleged Israeli airstrike reportedly hit the home of the Mushtaha family in the al-Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City, resulting in a number of deaths and injuries. Additionally, a young man, (Ahmed) Mjadi Mahmoud al-Rifi, was killed, and another young man,  Zaki al-Rifi, was injured as a result of the attack on the neighbourhood.

The incident was reported by Al Jazeera and Safa News as well as via posts to social media. Posts on social media reported that the home was inhabited at the time. Exact numbers were not reported, but multiple sources referred to “martyrs and wounded”, while others mentioned “victims”. The names of those killed were not publicly available, but this assessment will be updated if more information comes to light.

(Ahmed) Mjadi Mahmoud al-Rifi was killed when he tried to sell some vegetables to raise money for living, as told by his widow, a 27-year-old mother of three, Riham, in an interview with B’Tselem. Her husband was 32 years old, according to Riham, but, according to the possible match in the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza, he may have been 31. Mjadi’s cousin, Ahmed Zaki, was injured in his hand. Zaki’s family took him to a-Shifaa Hospital, where he had surgery and his hand was amputated.

Riham told that there was a heavy bombing in the area, and she tried to persuade her husband not to go. However, he did not listen to her and was killed in the bombardment. She recalled the painful moments of learning about his death:

“Later that day, an ambulance brought Majdi’s body home, and we parted with him in sorrow and grief. We cried a lot. My children cried over their father. It was a very painful farewell. One minute my husband was with us, and the next he popped out and never came back. “

The name of the victim has been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which include national ID numbers. Since October 26, 2023, the MoH has released eight 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”, which was released on January 7, 2024. The additional name within parentheses was found from the Ministry of Health list rather than from the sources.

Video footage of the aftermath of strikes in “​​the Al-Daraj neighbourhood” posted to Twitter/X by Al Jazeera Egypt showed rubble strewn across a street and the outer walls of a multi-storey apartment building blown out. At least one person is shown being carried from the home in the video. It is unclear what condition they were in.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military.