Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Four members of the Al-Sawaf family were killed by alleged Israeli airstrikes on the Al-Sawaf family home in Shawa Square in the Al-Tiffah neighborhood east of Gaza City on December 1, 2023.
On January 14, 2024, Airwars’ researchers spoke with Shimaa Musfafa Al-Sawaf, daughter of the owner of the house, who provided the names and location of those killed in this attack – all of the men who were killed had been injured in a previous alleged Israeli airstrike two weeks earlier on November 17, 2023 (see incident ISPT1177a for details).
Four members of the Al Sawaf family were killed: Montaser Mustafa Al Sawaf, his brother Marwan Mustafa Al Sawaf, Mohammed Salam Al Sawaf, and Mohammed Fouad Al Sawaf.
Anadolu Agency reported on its website “the photographer collaborating with Anadolu Agency in the Gaza Strip, Montaser Al-Sawaf, his brother Marwan, and a number of his relatives, were martyred on Friday in an Israeli bombing targeting southern Gaza City. Montaser continued to bleed for about half an hour without any of the ambulances being able to reach him until he was transported in a civilian car to the Baptist Hospital. There, the doctors could not treat his injury because it was serious due to the lack of medical capabilities, which led to his death.”
A colleague of Montaser posted a memorial for him, adding that he was “with us in covering the massacres in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war” and ultimately was a victim of bombings twice. According to @muhammadshehad2, Montaser had continued to work despite the “untreated” injury he had from the initial bombing and @fatimah_j_ tweeted that Montaser had posted “if God has given you what you love, do what he loves” two days before his death. Montaser had also posted videos of himself feeding stray cats in Gaza. After his death, a cartoon of a smiling Montaser feeding cats in a bombed out Gaza was widely shared online.
SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom also described Marwan as a “freelance photographer” and Alaa Kamal posted a condolence message for his “beloved and childhood friend” Marwan, along with an image of him with his press equipment. Shirin Observatory also posted a memorial for Marwan: “Marwan was born on January 12 (30 years old) in Gaza, Palestine, and he lived and grew up there. He was always proud of his father, loved his country and his friends, and was a sincere, creative, and smiling person. Studied technology at the University College of Applied Sciences – Gaza. He worked at the University College of Applied Sciences – Gaza. He worked at Alef Multimedia.”
Members of the Al-Sawaf family killed in this strike were laid to rest in the city’s al-Batsh cemetery.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
Due to the scale and urgency of Airwars’ assessment process, all images have been automatically uploaded to each assessment with the graphic filter applied to protect users. We have also included all images identified from the sources, which may also include any imagery of combatants.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (4)
Summary
Sources (20) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (23) [ collapse]
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Source: @ShehabAgency -
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Source: Alaa Kamal -
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Source: Iran press -
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Source: AJA palestine -
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Source: SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom -
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Source: SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom -
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Source: Mohammed Hazem Al Masri -
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Source: Mohammed Hazem Al Masri -
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Source: @TRTArabi -
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Source: @Gaza_Shaheed -
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Source: @JournalistSupp1 -
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Source: @muhammadshehad2 -
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Source: @muhammadshehad2 -
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Source: Anadolu Agency News -
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Source: Anadolu Agency News -
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Source: Anadolu Agency News -
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Source: Anadolu Agency News -
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Source: Anadolu Agency News -
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Source: Al Bawaba News -
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Source: Democracy Now News -
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Source: @KhaledBeydoun -
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Source: @Desertup -
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Source: @Desertup
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention Shawa Square (ساحة الشوا) to the east of Gaza city (غزة), for which the generic coordinates are: 31.506944, 34.467778. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.