Around noon on Saturday, July 13th, 2024, a minimum of nineteen identified civilians, at least two of whom were children, as well as an individual whose civilian status is currently contested, and two militants, including the commander of the al-Aqsa Brigades Ezz El Din Zaki Akila, were killed by an alleged Israeli airstrike.

More than 20 others were also injured, some seriously. The incident occurred during an afternoon prayer at the White Mosque in the Beach Camp, west of Gaza City. The strike likely hit the part of the prayer hall reserved for men, with a number of testimonies reporting that the civilians were killed while praying.

The names of the nineteen identified civilians are as follows: Marwan Abu Hatab; Mohammed Marwan Abu Hatab, son of Marwan; Mohammed Nahed Abu Hatab; Mahmoud Nahed Abu Hatab, brother of Mohammed; Ahmed Mahmoud Baroud; Moamen Mahmoud Baroud, brother of Ahmed; Abdul Latif Rayan, Mohamed Hassan Zaher, Amer Abdel Hay Zaher, Talal al-Dabash, Ahmed Abu Hajar, Ismail Shakshak, Mohammed Fathi Awaja, Yousef al-Salut, Alla al-Masry, Bassam al-Omari, Yahya Shahada Abu Mahmoud, Ashraf al-Masoabi, and Tawfiq Hassan Atallah. Nassim Hassouna was also killed in the strike. At the time of writing, Airwars is unable to confirm the civilian status of Nassim, who was referred to by one source on Facebook, Mona Mahmoud, as a “martyred fighter”.

Gaza Civil Defense teams reported ten civilian deaths and more than 20 injuries, most of whom were in serious condition. Medical Services reported recovering five civilian bodies and ten injured individuals. Within a few hours the number of those killed in the attack had risen to 15, and the number of injured surpassed 20. By evening the Civil Defense released another report stating that the number of people killed had increased to twenty. Mohamed Awad, in a Facebook post, reported a total of twenty-two civilian deaths. In the same post Awad identified the names of the victims.

Sharing to Facebook, Ron Othman posted a video from Whatsapp. The video shows what appears to be the immediate aftermath of the strike. As the videographer walks around the prayer hall, the camera stops and captures bodies lying on the red carpet which is ripped and bloodied. Chairs and other items are also strewn across the scene, broken and in some cases burnt. Family and community members surround those lying on the ground, some are moving but most are still.

In an interview with al-Arabiya TV, ambulance director Hassan Mohsen said that most of those attending the noon prayer were children and elderly people. A number of older individuals appear in the video shared by Othman, and posts shared by family members confirm that Ahmed Mahmoud Baroud and his brother Moamen Mahmoud Baroud were children. At the time of writing, Airwars is unable to confirm if other children were killed or injured in the strike.

The Hatab family

Four members of the Hatab family were reported killed, including Marwan Abu Hatab and his son Mohammed Marwan Abu Hatab; as well as Muhammad Nahed Abu Hatab and his brother Mahmoud Nahed Abu Hatab.

Posting to Twitter/X, @Sa7atPlBreaking shared a photograph, announcing the death of ‘charitable activist’ Mohammed Marwan Abu Hatab. Captured during the daytime, Mohammed is seen with one hand in his pocket, wearing an Adidas T-shirt, and smiling at the camera.

On Facebook, Atef Alnuami shared an image of and paid a tribute to Mohammed Abu Hatab, calling him “one of the most prominent activists in #Gaza during the ongoing war.” He added that Muhammad was responsible for “the initiative to prepare the prayer hall on the ruins of the White Mosque in al-Shati camp” where “he was martyred…during a massacre that took place this afternoon.”

“A sad day like every day we are used to” wrote Jehad Abu Hatab on Facebook after losing four of his family members. Omar Abu Hatab also grieved the loss of his uncles’ and cousins lives, sharing words and images to Facebook.

The Baroud family

Two members of the Baroud family were also killed in the strike, Ahmed Mahmoud Baroud and his brother Moamen Mahmoud Baroud.

Posting to Facebook, Hanin Mahmoud Baroud shared a video posted by the Quds Network on July 13th. In the video, Hanin is surrounded by a crowd and below her is the body of a family member, likely Ahmed and/or Moamen, wrapped in a blanket. She says that in total, four of her family members have been martyred. Hanin captioned the post “may God comfort your heart and ours.”

On July 14th she posted a photo picturing four male family members, two obviously children, along with an older man and a young girl. Across the chests of the two young men and two boys is a date. While the date written across the chest of the two boys is July 12, 2024, Facebook user Zayneb Taaji Hijabi commented on the post, writing “Ahmed and Moamen ascended yesterday on the date 13/7/2024.” As such, while Airwars is unable to confirm the ages of Ahmed and Moamen at this time, it appears that the two boys pictured are Ahmed and Moamen.

Commenting on Hanin’s post, Zainab Tajii Hijab, sister-in-law of Marwan Abu Hatab wrote, “may God have mercy on my sister’s husband, and my nephew, Mohammed Marwan Abu Hatab.”

Additional victims

Among the victims of the strike was Abdul Latif Rayan (Abu Anas). Mahmoud Mohsen grieved the loss of Abdul Latif Rayan “Abu Anas”, who Mahmoud described as a “Doctor of the Prophet’s Biography at al-Aqsa University.” He quoted the last words Abdul wrote on the July 7th 2024 before his death: “God willing, the direction will change from heading south to heading north, to our beloved country, and that is not difficult for God.”

On Facebook, Wassim Abundi shared condolence messages and a photograph of Abdul Latif Rayan Abu Anas, a middle-aged man with a grey beard smiling into the camera: “May God reward you greatly, dear Rayan family.”

Hussein Raafat Zaher on his Facebook account shared the news of the death of Professor Amer Abdel Hay Zaher “Abu al-Abd” and Sheikh Mohamed Hassan Zaher “Abu Hassan.” Atef Alnuami’s Facebook post described how Mohamed Hassan served as the Imam at the mosques of Jabalia camp for 25 years, most recently the Amin Muhammad Mosque. He also worked in the Sharia court and was in charge of the Quran memorization centres, and he regularly attended dhikr (additional prayer) after the dawn and sunset prayers. Atef added that the late Sheikh Mohamed was a gentle and kind man with a smile that never left his face. In his post, Atef included an image of Sheikh Mohamed speaking into a microphone; as well as a graphic image of his lifeless body, lying on the red carpet of the prayer hall.

Honouring his cousin, Rafiq Daher posted to Facebook to honour his cousins Mohamed Hassan Zaher and Amer Abdel Hay Zaher: “I ask Allah to accept them with the martyrs and the righteous, facing them and not turning away.”

Khaled Zaher Abu Abdul Rahman also mourned the loss of his cousin Amer Abdel Hay Zaher, who he referred to as “cousin, my love, my children’s uncle, and the crown of my head.”

Khaled also mourned the loss of the son of his great uncle, Abu Mohamed Hassan Zaher. “O God, accept them, to God we belong and to Him we shall return.”

Youssef Mohammed mourned the loss of his cousin Ismail Shakshak “May God have mercy on you, Samaa”. He shared a photograph of Ismail, a young man in a navy Adidas T-shirt smiling at the camera.

Abood J. Awaja posted a photograph of his young smiling cousin Mohammed Fathi Awaja to Facebook. Mohammed was also killed in the strike.

Ahmad Ashraf addressed the loss of his “dear brother” Youssef al-Salut who was among those killed in the strike “while praying.” He added a picture of Yousef where he was seen wearing a grey t-shirt, black trousers and white trainers. His smiling face is turned to the camera as he sits in a car in front of the wheel.

Marwaft Abbas also posted to Twitter/X after hearing about the loss of his nephew Youssef al-Salut. Marwaft described Youssef as “one of the best young men of the people of Gaza, gentle in character and kind-hearted.” In the post, Marwaft also offered condolences to his sister Umm Youssef: “May God comfort your heart and give you patience and steadfastness, my sister. May God reward us all greatly for the loss of the dear beloved of the heart Youssef.”

In addition to his words of remembrance, Marwaft shared two photos of Youssef. The first shows Youssef on the ground in his funerary shroud. Youssef’s name written on the white gauze, and one person is seen kneeling down to pull the shroud away from Youssef’s face. The second photograph shows Youssef in a black, long-sleeved collared shirt, smiling for the camera.

On Facebook, the account belonging to Mahmoud Abu Zanada Media Platform shared about the death of Professor Bassam al-Omari, Head of the Books Department in the West Gaza Directorate. Fourteen users commented on the post, expressing their condolences and offering prayers for Bassam.

Ahmed Taha announced the death of his neighbour Tawfiq Hassan Atallah Abu Muhammad, “known as Abu Kazim” – “May God accept you, beloved 🤲” read the Facebook post. Ahmed also shared a photo of Tawfiq. In the photo, Tawfiq wears a black Adidas t-shirt, black pants, and brown leather sandals. He sits outside, on the step leading to a door. He is seated next to a young man, smiling.

Saed Shahada wrote a Facebook post to honour the life of his uncle Yahya Shahada Abu Mahmoud. In his post, Saed described Yahya Shahada as “one of the pillars of my family” and added an image of Yahya, an elderly man with white hair, dressed a black shirt and looking toward the camera.

“A thousand mercies and light upon you, we will meet in heaven, God willing,” wrote Saja Alhajjar in a message dedicated to her uncle Ashraf al-Masoubi. She added a photograph of Ashraf, showing a man dressed in a crisp white shirt collared shirt and black dress pants. In the photo Ashraf is sitting on a sofa and smiling softly.

Hala Rafiq has also shared photographs of his uncle Ashraf al-Masoubi, in the photographs he is seen smiling at the camera. “May Allah have mercy on you, my dear brother,” wrote Hala.

“My father, the candle of my life and the soul of the soul for my world,” wrote Shimaa H. Almassri in the post dedicated to her father Alaa al-Masry. Throughout the post, she expressed the difficulty in accepting his death. ”I am captivated by that feeling that overcame me when I heard the first news! sadness assassinates my limbs and tears come first… I lost my ability to write since I lost them. I fail again to translate my feelings, I tremble with fear of believing the idea that you have truly departed! 😭 How does a person mourn a soul that is closer to him than his own soul? 💔How can he survive the loss?”

She defined her father as a brave and fierce man. “You were the best leader, educator, companion, partner, father, brother and beloved of the heart, my compassionate father, the man in whom men are rare ✋️ You departed in body, but your memory remains in us.”

Militant deaths

Mona Mahmoud posted on Facebook that her brother Nassim Hassouna was also killed in the strike referring to Nassim as, “our martyred fighter”. While no sources available to Airwars tied Nassim to a particular militant group in the Strip, Airwars is currently coding Nassim’s civilian status as “contested,” given this reference – meaning Nassim is not currently included in the minimum death toll. Should more information come to light, Airwars will update this toll.

Two militants with clearer information as to their combatant status were also mentioned by sources in relation to this event: Nemer Hamida, a released prisoner, described as “Mujahid Nimr Hamida Abu Omar” by Facebook user Abu Nasser al-Qatish who also connected Nassim to Hamas. Ezz El Din Zaki Akil was also referenced by sources such as Open Intifada, Osama Khilaf, and Prof. Dr. Jamal Abu Nahl as commander of the al-Aqsa Brigades and a member of the Military Council.

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

The incident occured around midday.