An airstrike allegedly conducted by Israeli forces on the evening of Sunday, December 22, 2024, resulted in at least two and up to five aid workers killed and up to 30 civilians waiting for aid injured. The airstrike reportedly hit aid workers in the Al-Mawasi area, west of Rafah city, southern Gaza Strip.

One of the victims of the strike was identified as 36-year-old Haitham Hamada Muhammad al-Shaer, also known as Abu Alaa. In remembrance, images of al-Shaer, along with condolences and prayers to his family, were circulated on Facebook. Basem Zourob stated, “We mourn the loss of our dear friend and martyr, Haitham Al-Shaer ‘Abu Alaa’.” Another friend, Abu Malik al-Shaer, stated that he was killed, “while performing his duty of securing humanitarian aid.”

Safa, a Palestinian press agency linked to Hamas, tracked developments resulting from an Israeli airstrike on the coastal Al-Mawasi area starting just after midnight on December 23, noting that two were killed and more than 20 were left wounded as a result of an Israeli raid on aid workers in the southern Gaza Strip. However, according to palinfo.com, the attack killing five aid workers happened on the evening of Sunday, December 22. The website added a short video showing the bodies of the victims lying on the floor of the hospital.

A few hours later, @inewschanneltv published a tweet reporting that 15 were injured in the airstrike. From the site of the strike, five of the victims who had been killed were transferred to Nasser Hospital, and journalist @Sa7atPl recorded scenes from the hospital with audio commentary. According to the footage, the victims were laid on the hospital floor while bystanders verified the bodies and family members grieved. Al Jazeera Palestine and Egypt produce a video segment of the funeral with the bodies being transferred out of the hospital, women weeping over the bodies, friends sitting silently, and others reciting prayers in grief.

A tweet from @Sham__news specified that the five reportedly killed had been aid workers and according to Al-Quds News, quoting a medical source, the aid workers had been in their car when the bombing occurred. Palinfo provided a higher injury toll, reporting that in addition to the five aid workers killed, 30 other citizens had been injured while waiting for aid to arrive.

Haitham’s name has been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which include national ID numbers. Airwars is matching individuals to the first list where their name appeared. In regard to this incident, names are matched to the eighth ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ list, which was released on March 24, 2025.

Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the attack to the Israeli military. According to @AJA_Palestine, Israeli drones were used in the attack.