On November 3, 2023, alleged Israeli airstrikes on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp resulted in the deaths of at least 19 people, including at least nine children, from three families who were residing in the affected residential block. Many others were reported injured, with several still missing beneath the rubble.

A total of 13 members from the Al-Qatrawi family lost their lives in the strike:

79-year-old professor Jamal al-Qatrawi and his wife Rabia Abu Shawareb were killed with their professor son, 48-year-old Ashraf Jamal al-Qatrawi, and his wife Alaa Yaghi, and their four children: 16-year-old Rawaa Ashraf al-Qatrawi, 11-year-old Ahmed Ashraf al-Qatrawi, Adam Ashraf al-Qatrawi, and Jamal Ashraf al-Qatrawi.

Another of Jamal’s sons, 28-year-old Mohamed Jamal al-Qatrawi, also perished, along with his wife Alla Abu Jiab and their infant son Rayan al-Qatrawi, who had not yet turned one. Iman Shasheen, Jamal Al-Qatrawi’s daughter-in-law, died alongside her infant daughter, Alma al-Qatrawi, who, like Rayan, was still under one-year-old.

Additionally, two other family members, Alaa Osama al-Qatrawi and 27-year-old Moaz Sobhi al-Qatrawi, also lost their lives.

From the Ahmed family, five members perished in the bombing:

Magdy Mustafa Abdel Fattah Ahmed (possibly 42) and his wife Ghadeer Ahmed Hussein Ahmed (possibly 39) were killed with their son Aseem Magdy Ahmed (possibly three) and their two daughters: Raghad Magdy Ahmed (possibly 13) and Alaa Magdy Ahmed (possibly seven). Their other son, Reda Magdy Ahmed, was reported missing. It is unknown whether he was later found to be deceased or injured.

Lastly, from the Al-Belbisi family, two people were reported as casualties. Source Adly Gebaly (عدلي جبالي) claimed that a strike on the Belbisi family home resulted in one deceased and one missing.

Airwars researchers found two names of civilians that may have been killed in this incident in the records of Shireen Monitor, a Palestinian organisation documenting names of civilians killed. 19-year-old Bodour Abed Al-Halim al-Belbisi and 48-year-old Mazen Mohammed al-Belbisi were reported as killed in Deir al-Balah on 3 November 2023. While they present possible deaths from this strike due to their surname, the date and the location, it was not explicitly mentioned anywhere in available sources that they were killed in this strike. While their names are here included as possible matches, they will not be included in the victims of this incident unless further information emerges.

Heartbreaking mourning messages have been shared on Facebook by relatives and friends of the victims.

One notable tribute came from Al-Qatrawi Hassan, cousin of Alaa Osama Al-Qatrawi and Moaz Sobhi Al-Qatrawi, who posted pictures of them to commemorate their loss. Samar Shahin, who tragically lost multiple family members, shared a message: “I mourn the martyrdom of my husband’s mother, my dear aunt, her sister’s sons, and her sister’s children.”

Similarly, Mahmoud Ahmed (محمود أحمد) expressed profound grief over the loss of his sister, Ghadeer Ahmed Hussein Ahmed, her husband, and their children. He shared poignant messages for each of them, acknowledging that he would “miss [Ghadeer] a lot”. Speaking of Raghdad, Mahmoud wrote, “My soul, who are you staying up with? To whom do I tell my secrets? Raghad talked to me […] and told me she was afraid of being martyred and being in pieces and no one would recognise me.. You were martyred, my dear, but you weren’t in pieces.” Alaa, he remembered, was “the daughter of all our hearts”. A photo collage of the family was attached, showing Ghadeer and an older woman, possibly her mother, and separate pictures of her four children.

The strikes caused major destruction. Social media platforms and news outlets, including Al Jazeera, shared drone footage taken after the attack, showing the complete devastation of the residential block. The footage revealed that the entire structure had been obliterated, leaving only a deep crater filled with debris. This suggests that many civilians may still be trapped beneath the wreckage. The video also showed residents attempting to rescue victims using their own limited resources, highlighting the dire situation and the lack of immediate external assistance.

@ShehabAgency and other news outlets reported a large number of injured civilians being brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital following the bombing. Opinion Online (الرأي أونلاين) also covered the arrival of the injured at Al-Aqsa Hospital, sharing four photographs that depicted the harrowing aftermath. The first photograph shows a middle-aged man being dragged out of an ambulance, completely covered in dust and rubble, appearing to be in a state of shock. The second photograph captures a toddler and a young child receiving medical attention in the hospital, both covered in dust and blood. The third photograph shows another toddler being carried out of an ambulance, while the fourth image, perhaps the most heart-wrenching, depicts the lifeless body of a toddler, wrapped in a red blanket, being carried away.

In another deeply distressing video shared on the Facebook page of the Palestinian Refugee Portal (بوابة اللاجئين الفلسطينيين), the scale of the destruction is vividly portrayed. The footage reveals an entire residential block reduced to piles of rubble, showing the remnants of several multi-story homes that once stood there, now torn apart beyond recognition. The video also highlights the desperate efforts of neighbours and civilians attempting to recover victims using nothing but their bare hands and basic tools, such as shovels meant for tilling the soil. Their limited resources underscore the magnitude of the disaster and the lack of emergency equipment available in the chaotic aftermath.

Airwars has not been able to find more information about the injured or missing from the strike beyond several sources reporting “dozens of martyrs, wounded and missing”. However, given the scale of the destruction and the densely populated nature of the area, it is presumed that the number of casualties and injuries is likely higher than currently reported.

The strike status has been graded as a “likely strike” by Airwars due to the repetition of sources mentioning Israel as being responsible for the strike, with the Civilian Harm Status as “fair” due to multiple different sources mentioning the civilian harm.

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 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. While some names were matched completely, the Ahmed family presented possible matches. Magdy, Ghadeer, Aseem, Raghad, and Alaa were found on the MoH list, but with the surname ‘Ali’. It is unclear whether these people were definitively those mentioned in this incident. However, that middle names matched and the children had the middle name ‘Mustafa’, matching their father, makes it very possible.

The local time of the incident is unknown.