Shortly before 6 p.m. on March 18th, 2025, one individual was reportedly killed in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, as a result of the alleged Israeli airstrike. The victim was identified through social media testimonies as a 28-year-old man, Yahya Mahmoud Khalil al-Astal (Abu Tariq). Al-Astal was later identified as a militant and this incident’s strike and civilian harm statuses were updated to ‘discounted’.

When Airwars first published this incident on December 19, 2025, no open sources were found to suggest that Yahya Mahmoud Khalil al-Astal (Abu Tariq) was a militant. As such, Yahya al-Astal was recorded as a civilian. 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.

On January 15, 2026, a Telegram account affiliated with Hamas’ armed wing, Al-Qessam Brigades, published a tribute to Yahya al-Asta, identifying him as a “commander”. As such, Airwars updated Yahya al-Asta’s status from civilian to militant. As he was the only civilian reportedly harmed in this incident, Airwars has updated the incident’s strike and civilian status to discounted.

The name of Yahya also appeared on the list of Shireen Monitor and Genocide in Gaza, which has the lists of “martyrs” of the Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip. According to the Genocide in Gaza, Yahya was 28 years of age at the time of his death, married and was killed in the alleged Israeli airstrike on Khan Younis, which happened without prior notice. His given name, Abu Tariq, suggests that he had at least one son named Tariq.

Expressions of remembrance for Yahya circulated widely on social media. The al-Astal family website published a statement announcing his death and shared a photograph of him wearing a black blazer, white shirt, and black-and-white polka-dot tie, smiling into the camera. This image was widely reshared across social media platforms.

Many social media sources referred to the victim as “Sheikh”, and Facebook user Sufyan al-Aqqad referred to him as “the martyred scholar and memorizer of the Holy Quran.” Apparently, Yahya was a religious scholar, although the sources do not provide additional information.

According to the Facebook post by “Khan Younis City gathers us”, Yahya al-Astal was killed “before the Maghrib call to prayer”, which was due at 17:59 local time.