At least 9 civilian members of the Hamad family – four of whom were children – 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. Two members of the family were identified as having been members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and have been recorded as militants.

When Airwars first published this incident on December 24, 2024, no open sources were found to suggest that Abdul Rahim Misbah Hussein Hamad “Abu Ayhem” or Khairuddin Misbah Hussein Hamad were militants. As such, both men were recorded as civilians. This was in line with Airwars’ methodology which is employed across all conflicts we document, and informed by international standards regarding the ‘presumption of civilian status‘. Specifically, as outlined by the International Committee of the Red Cross, civilian status is assumed until evidence is identified to the contrary.

However, on May 13, 2026, sarayamirror, a Telegram account associated with PIJ, posted a tribute to Abdul Rahim Misbah Hussein Hamad “Abu Ayhem”, naming him as a commander. As such, his civilian status has been updated to militant, and the number of civilians recorded as killed in this incident was changed from eleven to ten.

On July 14, 2026, the same account posted a tribute to Khairuddin Misbah Hussein Hamad, identifying him as a militant. As such, his civilian status has been updated to militant, and the number of civilians recorded as killed in this incident was updated accordingly.

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 (a militant); 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.