Geolocation
Airwars assessment
At least twelve identified civilians, two of whom were women, were killed, alongside at least one identified militant in airstrikes conducted by the Israeli military that hit the United Nations-run Abu Oreiban School in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in Deir al-Balah governorate in central Gaza on Sunday 14 July 2024 at around 15:02 local time.
On July 14, 2024 at 170:04 local time, the Israel Defense Forces Telegram account wrote “IDF: A short while ago, based on IDF and ISA intelligence, the IAF struck a number of terrorists who were operating in the area of UNRWA’s Abu Oraiban School School building in Nuseirat.” Though the post said that the IDF struck those “operating in the area” of the school, defining where the individuals had been supposedly operating but not where the IDF ultimately struck, the location and timeline match this incident. As such, this incident has been marked as a declared strike. This will be updated should additional information come to light.
Initial reports noted 12 victims were killed and 71 civilians were injured. Reports later in the day claimed that the death toll had risen to 15. The highest figure stated was by @F24online and Boumedienne Naado who shared that 15 people were killed and 87 were wounded. Amongst the injured was a young child who suffered severe burns. The victims were brought to Al-Awda Hospital while 16 serious injuries were transferred to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. It was reported that 55% of those injured were women and children.
A video shared by AJA Palestine showed a child being pulled out from under the rubble. Furthermore, a tweet by Rania Omar (@omarrania242) detailed “body parts and bodies scattered on the ground” after the airstrike.
A number of people also shared a shocking video of a young child sitting alone in fear and panic after she lost her entire family aside from her younger sister. Mais, the young girl, is holding her father’s shoe which was all that she found of her father, crying after he had been killed in the airstrike. Mais’ father who was killed was 31-year-old Ramadan Abdul Hamid Muhammad Ayyad.
Ramadan’s cousin Youssif Ayyad shared a tribute Ramadan’s honor, writing: “By God, the eyes shed tears, the heart grieves, and we are truly saddened by your departure, and we say only what pleases God (…) I will miss you, my cousin.”
Ahmed Adnan wrote: “The poor martyr Ramadan Ayyad is a body in small scattered pieces. There is no body for his loved ones to bid farewell to.” Many social media users shared the tragic story of his daughter.
Um Sami Al Masri shared an initial list of the victims’ names as follows: Jamal Abed Al Naser Al-Nouri, Bilal Al-Hajj (Abu Hamza), Sharifah Al-Ashram, Mahmoud Abu Armana, Enaam Saad Abu Talib, Jamal Abbas, and Mahmoud Abu Amro.
In a photograph shared to social media, Mahmoud Abu Armana is seen as an older man with white hair, pictured praying in front of a school, deep in thought.
Following Um Sami’s post, Boumedienne Naado posted an updated list of those lives lost which added Mohammad Salama Younis, Ibrahim Muhammad Abu Kamil, Ody Alaa Al-Danf, and Tamer Hamed Abu Abdo to the list of those killed. Mahmoud added that three civilians could not be identified but were also killed.
A long and heartfelt message was left by Ismail Al Thwabta, commemorating the life of the preacher Dr. Mohammad Salama Younis (Abu Salam). The post reads: “#Nuseirat camp, bids farewell to one the young, revolutionary, heroic preachers, who left behind an influential imprint of awareness and understanding of lofty, sublime ideas that have always carved a path of light and fire…” and that “this genius who comes from a family that is unparalleled in knowledge, morals, literature…”. “Ismail also shared an image of the late Mohammad – a young man in his 30s wearing glasses and a short beard.
Mohammad’s friend Abed Al Fatah Shalbi posted on Facebook: “farewell, you who have a kind word, everyone who meets you loves you.” Mohammad’s death was mourned in numerous other social media posts from relatives and friends.
Posting to what appears to have been his personal Facebook account, Mohammad was sad to have at least started a Ph.D program in Jurisprudence at the International Islamic University Malaysia. Posting to Facebook, Mohammad expressed support for “the resistance” – a commonly used Arabic phrase for militant groups including Hamas – and celebrated those who were ‘martyred’. However, as Mohammad does not appear to have been associated with any particular militant group, he has been recorded as a civilian. This assessment will be updated should additional information come to light.
Ibrahim Muhammad Abu Kamil, also known as Abu Musab, also received a number of messages honoring his passing. In the posts shared in his honour, Ibrahim was seen as man in his 40s with an elongated face, receding hairline, big eyes dressed in a white-blue shirt and a black jacket.
Tamer Hamed Abu Abdo also received condolence posts with a picture of him depicting a young man, likely in his early twenties. He was referred to as “polite and well-mannered.”
Additionally, Ramzi al-Hajj, Bilal Al-Hajj’s brother, also known as Abu Hamza, shared a post reporting that Bilal was killed, and shared photos. One of photos shows that Bilal was part of the local Palestinian police force and had received a certificate. Such police were part of the Palestinian government before October 2023, which was controlled by Hamas, but would not typically have any role in the actions of Hamas’s militant wing or other militant groups. As such he would be classified as a civilian unless further information emerges.
Kames Salh shared a post for his cousin, Zainab Zidan Al-Hasanat, who was also reported killed in the airstrike. Other posters shared a message in her honor, saying: “May God have mercy on you, my dear. May God give us patience and patience to your daughters, sons, and family.” A photograph of Zainab was shared, in which she is seen wearing a black and pink abaya and a pink hijab with flowers in the background.
An article published in an online Arabic-language publication, Al-Resalah, on April 6th, 2013 shared details of Jamal Abed al-Nasser al-Nouri. Jamal was reportedly arrested by Israeli forces in 2002 at the Rafah crossing, “on charges of belonging to Hamas and its military wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.” In a Facebook post shared by Jamel’s cousin, Mustafa Abdelaziz, Mustafa specified that Jamal spent 14 years in prison. On June 30th, 2023, a post to a Facebook account that appears to have belonged to Jamel celebrates eight years since Jamel’s release from prison. Included in the post are pictures, likely from the time of his release, showing Jamel in military fatigues, an Al-Qassam hat, and in one photograph, holding a gun. As Al-Resalah wrote that the reason for Jamel’s arrest was his membership in Al-Qassam, coupled with the images shared on June 30th, Jamel has been recorded as a militant. This classification will be updated should additional information come to light.
The Abu Oreiban School, affiliated with UNRWA, is located in the Nuseirat refugee camp and hosts sheltering internally displaced people. Videos after the bombings showed mass destruction of the school, men rushing injured civilians to get help, and wrapping killed civilians in blankets. A photograph shared by Twitter/X user @MEIK241299 showed a father cradling his young son who had been killed in the strike.
Where sources named a belligerent, all sources claimed the Israeli military was responsible.
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 sixth ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ list, which was released on September 16, 2024.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes (2) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention that the Abu Oreiban School (مدرسة ابو عربان) was struck in the Al Nuseirat camp (مخيم النصيرات). Analysing audio-visual material from sources, we have narrowed the location down to the following exact coordinates: 31.450102, 34.388399.
Summary
Sources (111) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (114) [ collapse]
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Israeli Military Assessment:
Original strike reports
IDF: A short while ago, based on IDF and ISA intelligence, the IAF struck a number of terrorists who were operating in the area of UNRWA's Abu Oraiban School School building in Nuseirat.
This location served as a hideout and operational infrastructure from which attacks against IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip were directed and carried out.
Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken in order to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions and additional intelligence.
The Hamas terrorist organization systematically violates international law, exploiting civilian structures and population as human shields for its terror attacks against the State of Israel.