On March 19, 2024, at least 11 civilians were killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike on a home on Yarmouk Street in Gaza City. The home was reportedly housing displaced families when it was struck, killing 11 members of the Muqbil family, and potentially others. At least two individuals were injured. Reports from the days after the incident said that a number of people remained missing under the rubble.

In a video originally shared by the Civil Defense Palestine_Gaza Telegram account, members of the Civil Defense are seen working in the dark, trying to find people amongst the rubble. The video caption includes a description of the home which was apparently made up of three floors and housing a number of displaced families at the time of the strike. In the video, young men wearing neon orange vests emblazoned with the Civil Defense logo are seen kneeling in the concrete and metal debris, calling out to those trapped under the rubble.

The latter half of the video is shot from outside, the light from the camera illuminating light rain. Civil Defense members are seen in the upper stories of the building, their phone lights illuminating their way. Their moves are entirely visible as the external walls of the building are completely gone.

The caption of the video, originally posted at 1:31 PM local time on March 19th says that “Civil Defense crews were able to retrieve 9 martyrs and 2 injured”, adding that “two citizens are still under the rubble of the Muqbil family home”.

The video’s caption also notes the strike as having occurred “last night”. However, as survivors of the strike say that it occurred on March 19th, Airwars has marked the date of the strike as March 19th. This will be updated should additional information come to light. In addition, though this was not the first source to come online on March 19th, the video appears to be from the early morning, and so likely the earliest reporting on the incident.

While it appears that the Civil Defense members were the first to offer a count of the number of people killed, injured, and missing, the numbers grew.

At 6:43 AM local time on March 19th, the Al Jazeera Channel Telegram account wrote “Urgent…15 martyrs in a bombing targeting the Maqbil family in the center of Gaza City.” This message was repeated across different Al Jazeera Facebook and Telegram accounts, including Al Jazeera – Egypt and Al Jazeera – Palestine.

At the time of writing, Airwars has been able to identify, by name, 11 individuals who were killed and two who were injured, all of whom were members of the Muqbil family.

48-year-old Najla’a Abu Hussein was reportedly killed alongside six of her children: 17-year-old Ali Muqbil, 21-year-old Dina Muqbil, 24-year-old Nismah Muqbil, 28-year-old Mohammed Muqbil, 28-year-old Haya Muqbil, and 30-year-old Ala’a Muqbil. Two of Najla’s children, Hala Muqbil and 26-year-old Alaa Muqbil were injured. Three other members of the Muqbil family, 35-year-old Mohammed Saleh, 5-year-old Aileen Saleh, and 3-year-old Yazan Saleh were also killed. 56-year-old Sana’a Abu Hussein, possibly Najla’s sister, was also killed in the strike.

At 7:18 AM local time, @ShehabAgency tweeted an image showing a young man in a Press vest. He’s pointing towards the ground, where bodies lay, shrouded in blankets. The young man is Palestinian journalist Anas al-Sharif, and the image is a still from a video in which Anas says that the home was struck by an Israeli warplane, killing 15. Anas adds that the building was completely destroyed and that a number of people were still missing under the rubble. 11 shrouded bodies are clearly visible in the video.

On the day of the strike, Facebook user Smaher Alkhaldy reposted the video shared by Al Jazeera Palestine, writing “My husband’s sisters and their children are martyrs”. She asked for Allah to “have mercy on them”. It is unclear whether Smaher’s family members were also members of the Muqbil family.

In the months that followed the strike, Hala Muqbil who was injured in the strike, posted repeatedly to Twitter/X, sharing details of the strike that killed 11 members of her family and injured her and her brother.

On April 12th, 2024, Hala shared a tribute to her mother Najla’a. Posting to Twitter/X, Hala wrote “Najla Abu Hussein, 48 years old, a great mother, the kindest and purest heart, her only concern is her 5 children.” Hala went on to write, “Throughout the war, she kept saying, “Everything can be compensated for. The important thing is that you remain well and around me. If I want to live with you in a tent, I am satisfied.” Hala closes the post by writing that Najla’a was killed three days after her birthday.

On May 23rd, 2024, Hala shared an image of two young children, captioning the post “Aileen and Yazan Saleh, killed by Israel.” In the image, the two toddlers are seen smiling. Aileen is wearing an orange dress and white sandals. Yazn is wearing a black zip-up sweater and black turtleneck.

On April 12th, 2024, Hala shared a tribute to her 17-year-old brother Ali. In the post, shared to Twitter/X, Hala wrote “Ali was supposed to be in his high school year. Ali was scheduled to finish high school and travel to study IT and come back to us as a world-class engineer.” Hala added that “He was the only one among us who knew what he wanted and had his dreams and ambitions”.

Hala shared another tribute to Ali on May 26th, 2024. Sharing a video to Twitter/X, Hala said that she “didn’t know that all [Ali’s] jokes would come true”, as Ali had jokingly given the family permission to “make a graphic video in case [they] were martyred”. Hala added that Ali had apparently been shot twice before the March 19th strike, and had said that he didn’t want to be shot again or martyred. Hala closed the post with a prayer and wrote “How much I miss you, my love.”

On May 30th, 2024, Hala posted to Twitter/X in honor of her sister, Haya. In the post, Hala refers to Haya as her “second mother”, writing “I wish you were here to see how much people love you and pray for you.” Hala went on to celebrate Haya’s “ambition” and the “love” that she had for her work. She added that in the days leading up to the March 19th strike, Haya had specifically said “that if anything happened to [her], [she] wouldn’t want to be a number or a piece of news.”

Posts detailing Haya’s story and her status as a promising young engineer and inspiration for young girls were shared widely online.

On April 12th, 2024, Hala shared a tribute to her sister Ala’a, writing that “everyone attests to her cleverness and intelligence, especially her professors at the university.” She added that Ala’a’s body was still missing, saying “I will never forgive anyone who prevented us from finding her and burying her.”

Hala posted another tribute to Ala’a on June 6th, 2024, remembering her as a “distinguished civil engineer in her field” who had “one semester left” before graduating with her second degree. Hala added that “During the first bombing, I was the one next to you and I heard you screaming, scared and crying.” The “first bombing” seems to refer to a strike on November 16th, 2023 in which three members of the family were injured.

Two days before the strike, on March 17th, 2024, Hala shared a link to a Gofundme page on her Twitter/X account. The Gofundme page, which has since been updated to include details of the March 19th strike, details the family’s attempts to find safety in the weeks and months before the strike on March 19th. It now also includes details of Hala and Alaa’s journey to evacuate to Egypt after the strike to receive medical treatment and continue their education.

The summary states that on October 8, 2023, the family became homeless as their entire area was “forced to evacuate under heavy carpet bombardment by the Israeli occupation.” It goes on to say that the family was ultimately displaced over 13 times while in the North of Gaza, and bombed twice. The first was reportedly a strike on November 16th, 2023 in which Ali, Haya, and Najla’a were injured. The second was the strike on March 19th, 2024.

The summary also details the injuries that Hala and Alaa endured. As a result of the strike, Hala’s pelvis and ribcage were fractured, leaving her unable to walk. Alaa also sustained “severe injuries, including skull fractures”, requiring surgeries “to implant a lens in his eye and another to repair the bone loss in his skull.”

A Tweet from Hala on May 30th, 2024 announced that “Alaa’s first skull surgery was successful today”, adding that he “still requires another surgery”. An image of Alaa, asleep on a hospital bed, a large bandage covering his head, and a string of IVs feeding into his arm accompany the post.

On April 28th, Hala and Alaa began their journey to Egypt after their names were approved at the Rafah crossing. Despite their injuries, the two “were forced to walk 7 kilometers”. Hala wrote that “[t]he so-called “safe route” was terrifying, and we had to constantly worry about being killed by Israeli occupation forces or kidnapped”. She added “[d]uring the journey, soldiers detained Alaa for hours and asked strangers to push my wheelchair. While detained, Alaa was beaten by the soldiers, including blows to his head, despite his skull fracture.” On May 1st, Hala and Alaa made it safely to Egypt, and an update to the Gofundme page, along with tweets from Hala, relay that the two have been able to secure treatment.

Based on posts shared by Hala and Khalil Jeris to Twitter/X, Hala is currently continuing her studies at a dental school in Cairo.

On August 2nd, 2024, Hala reshared an Instagram post from Haya Studio, announcing that the studio’s engineering services would resume, in honor of Haya Muqbil. Announced on Haya’s birthday, the post read that the decision was “a tribute to the memory of the martyred engineer…who had all the credit for building her career, elevating her name, and dedicating herself to providing the best services.” Haya’s studio had been bombed earlier in the year, and images and videos of the remains of the building that housed the studio were circulated online.

In an interview with Twitter/X user @KhalilJeris which was shared on July 3rd, 2024, Hala attributed the March 19th strike to an “Israeli F16”. Other posts referred to the attack as having been carried out by an “Israeli warplane”.