Airwars assessment
Shortly before 11:35 AM on Friday, November 3, 2023, the Awad family home in the Japanese neighbourhood of Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, was hit by an alleged Israeli airstrike, resulting in at least 24 civilians killed, including four generations of a displaced family, and injuring 45 other civilians.
Gazan Shegab Agency was the first to report the event on Twitter/X at 11:35 AM, writing about seventeen deaths and several injuries at the Awad family home. Safa News also reported that 17 were killed, adding that 45 others were wounded.
Social media tributes by family and friends helped Airwars to identify the names of the 22 family members killed in the deadly strike.
27-year-old engineer Muhammad Ramez Jamal Awad was killed alongside his 27-year-old pregnant wife Asmaa Jamal Musa, and their one-year-old son Ramez Muhammad Ramez Awad – one source added that their two daughters were also killed but their ages and names remain unknown. Muhammad Ramez was reported to be an assistant professor at the College of Civil Engineering.
Muhammad’s 31-year-old sister Eman Ramez Jamal Awad (al-Agha) and her 35-year-old husband Muhammad Fawad al-Agha were also killed alongside “a number of their children.” Although the names of their children who were killed were not found among local sources, the names of 11-year-old daughter Meira Muhammad Fawad al-Agha, eight-year-old daughter Rajam Muhammad Fawad al-Agha and infant son Adam Muhammad Fawad al-Agha were found on the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities released on January 7th, 2024 based on matching familial names. Based on this information, these children were likely killed in this incident but without further corroboration, a range of 2-3 has been recorded for the children of Eman and Muhammad.
Adnan K [Awad], in a post on Facebook, reported the deaths of Muhammad Ramez Awad and his family. He wrote “The passing of our polite, well-mannered young cousin, Engineer Muhammad Ramez Awad, in the company of his sister, wife, son Ramez, and two daughters. The eyes shed tears, the heart grieves, and we are truly saddened by your departure. We say only what pleases our Lord, to God we belong and to Him we shall return.”
Reham Fawaz in a post on Facebook made a heartfelt tribute to the family members and mentioned that Asmaa Jamal Musa, wife of Muhammad Ramez Awad, was pregnant when the bombing took place.
Asmaa Jamal Musa’s parents, 54-year-old Jamal Muhammad Musa and 53-year-old Amal Saad Allah Abu Khader (Musa) were also killed, along with Asmaa’s 24-year-old sister Samar Jamal Muhammad Musa and her son whose name is unknown.
The late Jamal Mohammad Musa was a Brigadier General in the Gaza Police and the Director of Special Security for the Gaza Police. Samah Khalil shared a photograph of the late Jamal, taken in his office at his desk, wearing his uniform. While police services in Gaza are part of the wider civil service in the strip which was controlled by Hamas until October 2023, members of the police are distinct from Hamas’ militant wing and have not been involved in fighting en masse. As such Musa has been classified as a civilian, rather than a militant, until further specific information emerges.
79-year-old Muhammad Salim Muhammad Baalousha was killed alongside his son 56-year-old Salim Muhammad Salim Baalousha, his daughter-in-law Najla Abdel Karim Maliha, his two grandsons – 29-year-old Muhammad Salim Muhammad Baalousha and 17-year-old Wael Salim Muhammad Baalousha, and his 33-year-old granddaughter Nada Samir Muhammad Baalousha (Motar) – her name likely is Nada Salim Muhammad Baalousha based on familial names, since she is referred to as the daughter of Salim in local sources, and the Ministry of Health list. Nada’s husband, 34-year-old Khalil Omar Khalil Motar, and their daughter Lin Khalil Omar Motar were also killed.
Ibrahim Motar Abu Ahmed memorialized his cousin Khalil Omar, his wife and daughter, adding that Khalil’s father had died just two weeks earlier.
Another member of the Baalousha family, Khadija Khair al-Din Baalousha, was also listed as among those killed. In addition, a woman named Samar Abu Mustafa and Malak al-Saidi were also killed in the bombing.
Samar Abu Mustafa’s friend wrote “My dear friend Samar Abu Mustafa, oh God, I can’t believe it. Oh God, you left and abandoned me. I talked to you yesterday, oh God, The scent of roses. We agreed that we would be martyred together. May God have mercy on you, my friend. You preceded me to heaven”. She also included photographs of her last text conversation with Samar and a photo of Samar, a young woman wearing a blue dress and a beige hijab.
Abu Aseer Abd Rabboh’s post included photographs that showed the destruction in the wake of the strike. Images of the street showed the building reduced to rubble.
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 matches individuals to the first list where their names 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 the Israeli military.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (13)
Family members (9)
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (31) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (40) [ collapse]
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Source: مصدر الاخبارية -
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Source: Abu Aseer AbdRabboh -
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Source: Abu Aseer AbdRabboh -
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Source: Adnan K Awwad -
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Source: Reham Fawaz -
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Source: Reham Fawaz -
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Source: Reham Fawaz -
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Source: Reham Fawaz -
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Source: Reham Fawaz -
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Source: Reham Fawaz -
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Source: Reham Fawaz -
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Source: Reham Fawaz -
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Source: عشيرة آل عـواد - الوطن العربي Awwad Family -
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Source: NööÑöö Àĺì -
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Source: NööÑöö Àĺì -
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Source: ابراهيم مطر ابو احمد -
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Source: Shawkat Shrikha -
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Source: Shawkat Shrikha -
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Source: Shawkat Shrikha -
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Source: Shawkat Shrikha -
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Source: Shawkat Shrikha -
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Source: Shawkat Shrikha -
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Source: Shawkat Shrikha -
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Source: Samah Khalil -
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Source: Abdullah Srour -
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Source: Bahgat Awad -
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Source: هادي فياض -
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Source: هادي فياض -
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Source: هادي فياض -
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Source: هادي فياض -
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Source: هادي فياض -
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Source: هادي فياض -
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Source: هادي فياض -
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Source: هادي فياض -
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Source: هادي فياض -
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Source: هادي فياض -
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Source: هادي فياض -
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