Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT150724i

Incident date

July 15, 2024

Location

منزل مصباح حمد وسط شارع الزهور في مخيم ١ النصيرات, House of Misbah Hamad in Al-Zohour Street, Camp 1, Nuseirat Refugee Camp, Deir al Balah, the Gaza Strip

Airwars assessment

At least 11 members of the Hamad family were killed and others were injured in an alleged Israeli airstrike on their home on Al-Zohour Street, in Camp one of Nuseirat Refugee Camp in Deir al-Balah on July 15, 2024.

The deceased family members were identified as: grandfather Misbah Hussein Hamad “Abu Muhammad”, 61-62; grandmother Zuhur Muhammad Misbah Hamad Hamdan “Umm Muhammad”, 60; their sons Abdul Rahim Misbah Hussein Hamad “Abu Ayhem”, 32-35; Jihad Misbah Hussein Hamad, 20; and Khairuddin Misbah Hussein Hamad, 28-30; and their daughter Ala Misbah Hussein Hamad, 39-40. Misbah and Zuhur’s daughter-in-law, Abdul Rahim’s wife Zahra Wael Farag Hamad Mansour, 27, was also killed along with Abdul Rahim and Zahra’s sons Ayham Abdul Rahim Misbah Hamad and Awsam Abdul Rahim Misbah Hamad. While a post from Ahmed Rezeq reported the ages of Ayham and Awsam as six and three respectively, the Ministry of Health lists Ayham and Awsam as both being two years old, twins born on May 20, 2022. Images of the two shared on social media indicate that they were young twins, pictured in matching outfits; Airwars has therefore recorded the MoH ages next to the names of the children below.

Misbah and Zuhur’s other grandchildren, granddaughter Jouri Mahmoud Misbah Hamad, 6-7 (referred to as “Judy Muhammad” in some posts but clarified by her uncle Ahmed, she is the daughter of Mahmoud based on her name), and their grandson Obaida Mahmoud Misbah Hamad, 5-6 (son of their son Mahmoud and sibling of Jouri based on his name) were also killed.

The strike was first reported at 8.40 PM local time by Safa News, who updated their report to include seven people killed and an unknown amount of injuries at the Hamad family home. Later, nine deceased members of the family were said to have been admitted to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. The final number of those killed in the strike was confirmed to be eleven, according to 5News Pal and several posts on social media.

While the names of eleven deceased family members were announced on the day of the strike, it appears that the process of recovering the bodies took some time. On July 16, a post on a Facebook group for Nuseirat Refugee Camp said that only seven bodies had been recovered so far.

One of Misbah Hussein Hamad’s sons, Ahmed, who lives in Germany according to his Facebook page, announced the death of his father and a total of 11 deceased family members.

Photos shared by 5News Pal showed the complete destruction of the home while people appeared to use their phones as flashlights to search among the rubble. Other photos shared by photographer Abdallah Hamdan showed the extent of the destruction as the home lay in rubble, with what appeared to be only one window left intact.

Video posted to social media showed a Palestinian Red Crescent Worker carrying a small bundled blanket from an ambulance, possibly the body of one of the children, with a caption that said: “This is what remains of a human being… just remains.” Another video showed at least eight shrouds laid out on the ground at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Ashraf Hamad, nephew of Misbah Hussein Hamad, announced the death of his uncle and other family members with a post on Facebook. Two other nephews, Karam Hamad and Ahmed Rezeq also announced the death of their uncle and his wife, children, and grandchildren. Rezeq confirmed the death of 10 family members between the ages of three and 62 in his post, asking for God to grant his family “patience and solace”. Another nephew shared a photo of Misbah, where he is sitting with his hands folded, wearing a white button up shirt with a red tie.

The cousin of Ala Misbah Hamad remembered her as ‘kind’ and ‘sacrificial’, writing that she “was chaste in her morals” and “worked hard to serve her father, mother, and sisters.” The post was accompanied with a photo of Ala at a birthday party wearing a pink headscarf.

Khairuddin Misbah Hamad was remembered in a Facebook post where he and a friend, Amir Abu Muhammad, are sitting together at a table. Muhammad wrote that he had lost his ‘soulmate’ and ‘friend’.

One neighbour of the family shared photos of the deceased family members, including the two twin boys smiling in matching pink shirts and a little girl, possibly Judy, holding a rose and wearing a graduation robe. An image of Jihad, a young man in a pink Nirvana shirt, and images of Abdul Rahim and Khairuddin (unclear which is which as they are close in age) were also included.

On Sunday July 21, a man from Camp 1 of Nuseirat donated 4000 litres of water for distribution in the camp “for the soul of the martyr Misbah Hamad, his wife, children, and grandchildren,” according to a Facebook post accompanied by a photo of children lining up to receive water.

Multiple sources reported on “injuries” resulting from the strike, but none provided an injury toll.

Due to the extensive reporting which confirms the death of the family members killed, this incident has been given a civilian harm grading of “Fair”. Several sources attributed this strike to the Israeli military, including Safa News. Therefore, it has been graded by Airwars as a “Likely Strike”. At least one source specifically mentioned that the strike was carried out by F-16s.

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 incident occured in the evening.

The victims were named as:

Family members (11)

Misbah Hussein Hamad مصباح حسين حمد
61.5 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 949087266
Zuhur Muhammad Misbah Hamad Hamdan زهور محمد مصباح حمد حمدان
60 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 933990202
Abdul Rahim Misbah Hussein Hamad عبد الرحيم مصباح حسين حمد
32 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 803543388
Zahra Wael Farag Hamad Mansour زهرة وائل فرجحمد منصور
27 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 402551022
Ayham Abdul Rahim Misbah Hamad أيهم عبد الرحيم مصباح حمد
2 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 445491400
Awsam Abdul Rahim Misbah Hamad أوسم عبد الرحيم مصباح حمد
2 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 445492010
Ala Misbah Hussein Hamad علا مصباح حسين حمد
39.5 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 800333668
Jihad Misbah Hussein Hamad جهاد مصباح حسين حمد
20 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 409649746
Khairuddin Misbah Hussein Hamad خير الدين مصباح حسين حمد
29 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 400796223
Jouri Mahmoud Misbah Hamad جودي محمد مصباح حمد
6.5 years old female Matched to MoH ID 439069857
Obaida Mahmoud Misbah Hamad عبيدة محمود مصباح حمد
5.5 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 441232303

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Infrastructure
    IDP or Refugee Camp, Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    11
  • (4 children)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (23) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (39) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Ashsh.ashsh
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    Source: Ashsh.ashsh
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    Source: Ashsh.ashsh
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Ashsh.ashsh
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Ashsh.ashsh
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Ashsh.ashsh
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rami Abu Ismail
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rami Abu Ismail
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rami Abu Ismail
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rami Abu Ismail
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rami Abu Ismail
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rami Abu Ismail
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rami Abu Ismail
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Hani Abu Saleh
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Hani Abu Saleh
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Hani Abu Saleh
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rami Abu Ismail
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rami Abu Ismail
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rami Abu Ismail
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rami Abu Ismail
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rami Abu Ismail
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rami Abu Ismail
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rami Abu Ismail
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: 5newspal
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Dr.rafeqe Hamed
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Dr. Hussein Hamad
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Dr. Hussein Hamad
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Dr. Hussein Hamad
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Karam Hamad
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Karam Hamad
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Karam Hamad
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Karam Hamad
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Karam Hamad
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Khalil Al-Ghafari
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Amir Abu Muhammad
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Dr-Saleem Alkohaly
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Yaser Wishah
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Wafaa Nabeil
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Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Infrastructure
    IDP or Refugee Camp, Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    11
  • (4 children)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (23) [ collapse]