Around midnight on November 5, 2023, at least 23 people, including at least nine children and six women, were killed and others were wounded, including an infant, in an alleged Israeli airstrikes on the Mishmish family home located in Al-Zawaida in the Deir al-Balah region of the Gaza Strip.

62-year-old grandmother Suad Khamis Khalil Mishmish (Abu Khadra) was killed along with her daughters Ghada Saleh Mishmish (25) and Basmah Saleh Mishmish (23), as well as her sons Basel Saleh Mishmish (age unavailable) and Nidal Saleh Mishmish (35). Two other relatives, Lian Youssef Tayseer Khadr (10) and Hamza Youssef Tayseer Khadr (8) were also killed.

Nidal’s wife Hala Abu Khadra (age unknown) was killed as well, along with her and Nidal’s three children: Yamen Nidal Saleh Mishmish (3), Joan Nidal Saleh Mishmish (6), and Jouri Nidal Saleh Mishmish (8).

Bilal Mohammed Mohammed Mishmish (26) and his brother Adham Mohammed Mohammed Mishmish (38) were killed in the strike as well, as were Adham’s wife and children, whose names are unknown. Though Airwars was unable to confirm how many of Adham’s children were killed, in line with Airwars’ methodology, as sources referred to the deaths of Adham’s “children”, the minimum and maximum number of people and children killed in the attack includes two counts for Adham’s children. This will be updated should additional information come to light.

Adham and Bilal’s aunt and uncle, Najwa Mohammed Ismail Abu Laila (57) and her husband Fathi Abu Laila (61) were also killed, as were two of the couple’s grandchildren, Najwa Shadi Mohammed Abu Laila (5) and Rital Shadi Mohammed Abu Laila (7). An infant named Hassan Mishmish was injured in the bombing, with the sources noting that his parents had been killed.

On the day of the alleged bombardment, @PalinfoAr reported “martyrs and wounded in a bombing that targeted a house belonging to the Mishmish family in the al-Zawaida area in the central Gaza Strip.” In a video by Al Jazeera, “aerial footage shows the bodies of nearly 50 martyrs who died as a result of the Israeli bombing at dawn today on the Mishmish family home in the al-Zawaida area” with other sources put the death toll at 50. The imagery shared by Al-Jazeera appears to show 38 bodies shrouded in white.

A Facebook post from journalist Montaser Alajoriy reported that 23 people killed in the strike.

A video by AJ+ Arabia shows a sleeping baby, Hassan Mishmish, in a hospital cradle as a nurse explains that “they took him from under the rubble where he was in the arms of his martyred mother.” It is unclear how many others were wounded, as no injury toll was provided by the sources.

Numerous loved ones shared their grief on social media.

Posting to Facebook, Ibrahim Mohammed mourned the loss of his mother, Najwa; his nieces Rital, Najwa, and Lian; and his nephew Hamza. Posting on November 8, 2023, Ibrahim dated their deaths to November 5, 2023.

Posting to Facebook, Ibrahim’s brother Youssuf Mohammad Abu-Laila remembered also mourned his mother, nieces, and nephews, as well as his uncle Fathi Abu Laila, his cousins Adham, Adham’s wife, and Bilal Mishmish. He closed the post with a prayer: “O Allah, have mercy on them and accept them among the martyrs, and make us among those who intercede for them on the day we meet you and appear to you after the intercession of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.”

While Ibrahim dated the deaths of his family members to November 5, 2023, Youssuf wrote “5-6/11/2023”. While sources unrelated to those lost posted and referenced the incident as occurring on November 6, 2023, in line with Ibrahim and Youssuf’s records, Airwars has recorded the incident as occurring at around midnight on November 5, 2023. This will be updated should additional information come to light.

Mohammad Abdulla posted about the loss of his aunt Najwa Abu Laila, Najwa’s husband, daughter, and grandchildren, his sister’s husband Bilal, his cousin Adham, Adham’s wife and children, his aunt Suad and his cousins. In total, he reported that “at least 26” people from his family had been killed.

Mirvat Sobh, Zher Mamdoh and Budoor Muneer shared a photo of Suad Khamis Abu Khadra at the beach wearing a bright pink hijab and honored their aunt and other deceased family members, writing that “we consider our aunt Suad Khamis Abu Khadra (Mishmish), her daughters, sons, grandchildren, and her kind and affectionate daughter-in-law Hala, as martyrs in the sight of God. May God have mercy on you as much as my mother cherishes and loves you. By God, your departure has broken our hearts.”

Another relative named Abeer Abo Khadra announced that “with hearts that believe in God’s will and destiny, we received the news of the martyrdom of my cousin Suad Khamis Abu Khadra, her daughters, and her children and grandchildren as a result of the bombing of their home.”

Khalil Alakhdar wrote “Here is Gaza, the pride. Here is Palestine. We offer our condolences to [the Mishmish family] for the martyrdom of the Mishmish family and my cousin, the martyr Suad Khamis Khalil Abu Khadra…her sons, daughters, and grandchildren, 50 of them, all martyrs.” Nidal Abu Mohammad drew attention to the scale of the Mishmish family’s losses, writing that “My aunt Umm Basel Mishmish, her children, grandchildren, and her daughters-in-law are in the care of God as martyrs: a new family has been removed from the civil registry.”

Abood Saeed and Shehab Abed shared a photo of Nidal Mishmish holding a toddler in his arms and prayed “may God have mercy on you, my friend, Nidal Mishmish. He and his family are martyrs. God is sufficient for us, and He is the best Disposer of affairs. Nidal Abu Yamen.”

Mohammed Riyad wrote that “on behalf of myself and my family, I offer my condolences to my brother and friend Hossam Mohammad Mishmish for the martyrdom of his brothers Bilal and Adham Mohammad Mishmish.” Facebook user Abu Suhaib mourned “the martyrdom of my brothers, Adham Mohammad Mishmish and his wife, and my brother Bilal Mohammad Mishmish.” Only one source, Mohammad Abdulla, refers to Bilal and Adham’s middle names as “Hassan” while their full names with the middle name “Mohammed” were found on the Ministry of Health list of fatalities.

Wadie H Fanouna mourned Adham’s death as well, writing, “May God have mercy on you, Adham Mishmish, and accept you into the highest heavens with the prophets and the truthful, and what excellent companions they are. Farewell, Adham, of good character and conduct, and the servant of the people of your neighborhood.”

Basam Aba Hamda shared a smiling selfie of himself and his friend Basel Mishmish, expressing that “you broke our hearts, Basel. May God have mercy on you, brother. May you meet in heaven. May God accept you and grant you the highest paradise, God willing. Basel Mishmish is a martyr.”

The Gaza Sport Facebook page shared a photo of Basel in his football uniform in its announcement of “the [death] of the goalkeeper of the Shabab al-Zawaida Club: Basel Mishmish.”

Mohamed Chikhi and Selmane Aziz shared another smiling photo of Basel in his football uniform giving two “thumbs-up” to the camera and grieved the young athlete’s death as a result of “[an Israeli] bombing in the central Gaza Strip.”

Muna Ibrahim prayed “may God have mercy on you, my dear brother, to the eternal gardens, colleague Fathi Abu Laila Abu Yasser.”

Echoing those who mourned the deaths of Nidal, Nidal’s wife and children, and Nidal’s mother, Facebook user Wesam Abo Karem noted that Asmaa Mishmish and Watha Mishmish were missing. At the time of writing, Asmaa and Watha have not been included in the counts of those injured or killed. This incident will be updated should more information come to light.

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.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces. The majority of the sources referred to the incident as a “bombing” while at least one source, Abdul Karim on Facebook, specified that it was an airstrike.