Airwars assessment
On November 4, 2023, an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Al-Khawli family home, located near Al-Basatin Street in the Asqoula area of the Al-Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza, east of Gaza City, resulted in the deaths of at least nine civilians, including up to five women and three children, all from the same family. Several others were reportedly injured.
The Shehab Agency tweeted that there were “nine martyrs” and a “number of injuries” caused by the “[Israeli] aircraft bombing.” Further details emerged from local sources, including Ibrahim Milhim and other media outlets, as well as posts on Facebook. One particularly tragic detail was shared about Abu Hamza Al-Khawli, a civil defence worker who was called to a rescue mission, only to discover that the target of the airstrike was his own home, which had been reduced to rubble. According to posts by Ajel Al’an Falastin, all those killed in this incident were members of Abu Hamza’s family, including his wife in children.
Based on testimonies from relatives and friends of the victims shared on social media, Airwars was able to identify 10 civilians likely killed in this airstrike from the records of Shireen Monitor, a Palestinian organisation documenting names of civilians killed. While the names found have the same surname as Abu Hamza and the family home which was reportedly struck, it was not explicitly mentioned in local sources that they were killed in this strike. The location mentioned was not specific enough to allow Airwars to confidently link these names to this incident, and as such they will not be included in the victims list, though this will be updated should more information emerge. Shireen Monitor recorded different dates of death for the al-Khawli’s, ranging from 4 November 2023 to 6 November 2023. This confusion may result from both the intensity of the on the ground situation, as well as the possibility that the deceased were trapped under rubble and only uncovered and identified in the days following the strike.
The identified fatalities according to Shireen included 32-year-old Hamza Mahmoud Khalil al-Khawli (possibly the son of “Abu Hamza”), Hamza’s one-year-old son Mahmoud Hamza Mahmoud al-Khawli, Hamza’s 31-year-old brother Malek Mahmoud al-Khawli, Hamza’s 21-year-old sister Ansam Mahmoud al-Khawli, 20-year-old Nesma Sami Ali al-Khawli, 30-year-old Ameera Shehda Saeed al-Khawli, 53-year-old Hayat Abedallah Hassan al-Khawli, and 27-year-old Heba Majed Hamdi al-Khawli. Along with Mahmoud, two other children, 6-year-old Ramzai Ismail Ramzi al-Khawli and one-year-old Joury Mohammed Ramzi al-Khawli, were also likely killed in this incident.
Videos shared by social media users, such as Mahmoud Ahmed, showed black smoke rising over the buildings after the airstrike. Other footage depicted men consoling a distraught civil defence worker, presumably Abu Hamza, as the camera panned to the rubble of what was once the Al-Khawli family home, completely destroyed with some parts in flames. Civil defence workers and local residents were also shown walking through and over the debris.
All sources which attributed responsibility for the airstrike identified the Israeli military as the belligerent.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (39) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (15) [ collapse]
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