On Thursday, 26 December 2024, an alleged Israeli airstrike killed at least 50 civilians, including at least four women, six children, and two medical staff who worked at the Kamal Adwan Hospital. A number of civilians were also injured. The alleged Israeli strike hit the ‘Al-Safir Tower’, a six-story residential building opposite Kamal Adwan Hospital, in Beit Lahia, Gaza Strip. The building was reportedly hosting 40 people from several displaced families, including the Al-Daqs and Samour families, at the time of the strike.

Quds News Network reported that Israeli forces reportedly bombed the Al-Safir residential tower near the Kamal Adwan Hospital, with Hani al-Shaer noting that at the time of the strikes, the tower housed several displaced families, including the Al-Daqs family. Hamdios Vabadus and Nisreen Razayna termed the strikes a “massacre”, with Mc-doualiya posting that more than 50 had been killed, including medical staff who were “with their families in the house” when the tower was hit, and “their bodies are still under the rubble.” Palhadath2019 reported that civilians were also injured in the strike.

According to the press release by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital reported that around 50 people, including five medical staff at Kamal Adwan Hospital, were killed as a result of the Israeli airstrikes on a building adjacent to the hospital. The Facebook account “Palestine event” mentioned injuries, but also added that “and no one can save the injured in light of the Israeli continuous targeting of everyone moving in the area.” Images of the heavily damaged Al-Safir residential tower taken by Islam Ahmed were added to the post.

Double tap strike

Three other medical staff members, Abdul Majeed Abu al-Aish (paramedic), Maher al-Ajrami (paramedic), and Fares al-Hudali (maintenance specialist) were also killed in alleged Israeli airstrikes on December 26.

21-year-old Fares al-Hudali was reportedly killed while attempting to rescue those injured in this incident. As sources were clear in saying that Fares was killed while responding to this incident, the two incidents have been recorded as part of a double-tap strike. Airwars has published the incident in which Fares was killed at ISPT261224na.

Later in the day, Abdul Majeed Abu al-Aish and Maher al-Ajrami were also killed while trying to reach the hospital across from the Al-Safir Tower, with Twitter/X user @Palinfo writing that the two paramedics were “at Zayed roundabout, which is 500 meters away from the hospital, when they were targeted and martyred instantly, and their bodies [were] still in the street where no one can reach them.” Airwars has published this incident at ISPT261224o.

Names of civilians killed and injured

The names of the civilians killed, as shared by sources online, including Somaia Al-Daqs, Adnan Aldaqis, Salwa.salama, Mohammad Al-Daqs, and Mohammad Nabil were as follows:

Hospital Staff

30-year-old pediatrician Dr. Ahmed Hassan Samour was killed alongside a young woman, laboratory technician Israa Abu Zaida.

The Palestinian Information Center @PalInfoAr quoted Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, who provided the names and backgrounds of some of the civilians killed in the strikes. Dr. Ahmed Hassan Mahmoud Samour was a paediatrician working at the hospital, who at the time of the strikes had gone out “to the tower where he lives with his family.” Israa Abu Zaida was a laboratory technician who had gone out to “bring food to her father and brother in the same building,” and they were hit in a strike. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, both of them were killed while trying to return to their homes.

Multiple users on social media expressed condolences towards the victims and surviving loved ones, with the nursing staff of the Kamal Adwan Medical Complex mourning the death of their colleagues killed in the strikes. Mariam Nsewi mourned the loss of Israa Abu Zaida, posting “May God have mercy on your soul, Israa, and accept you into the highest heavens, you have gone to the best… soul, basil, and a paradise of bliss…Every day, news of someone from the camp comes that pains our hearts, by God, our hearts are broken…”

The Facebook post by Eid Sabbah contained the image of Israa Abu Zaida, a young woman dressed in a dark green T-shirt and a beige hijab, looking into a microscope.

Abdallah Samour posted about the death of his cousin, Dr. Ahmed Samour, wishing “May God have mercy on him and accept him as a martyr in the field of serving his people.” He added an image of Ahmed, a young man with a round face, big eyes, and a gentle smile, wearing a red polo T-shirt.

Civilian families

On Facebook, Ali al-Daqs mourned the death of twenty members of the Al-Daqs family killed in the strikes (including previous strikes, while this strike killed 14 family members), with Ziad Almahdhoun calling it a “heinous massacre that wiped them from the entire civil registry in the Beit Lahia project area.” According to Ali, Yasseer al-Daqs and his brother Abdul-Rahim al-Daqs were killed with their entire families. His post was accompanied by many images of the family members.

52-year-old Yasser Muhammad Salama al-Daqs was killed alongside his 41-year-old wife Shireen Abdul-Aziz al-Daqs (Baroud) (Umm Waleed), their sons, 20-year-old Waleed Yasser Muhammad al-Daqs and 18-year-old Muhammad Yasser Muhammad al-Daqs, and their daughters, 21-year-old Maria Yasser Muhammad al-Daqs and 16-year-old Razan Yasser Muhammad al-Daqs.

Shaker Baroud mourned the death of his sister Shireen, her husband, and their four children, saying “to the eternal gardens my beloved sister, the love of my heart and the joy of my soul and my little girl Shireen, her husband Yasser, and her children, the beloved of my heart Walid, Muhammad, Maria and Razan.”

In his image on the website Genocide in Gaza, Yasser al-Daqs is seen as a middle-aged man with a clean-shaven face and short hair, wearing a purple pullover and a grey scarf, standing outdoors in nature. This image of him was also shared by many social media users, mourning his death. On this website and in social media tributes, his eldest son, Waleed, is seen as a smiling young man with dark eyes, a dark trimmed beard, wearing a red cap and white hoodie.

Yasser’s brother 38-year-old Abdul-Rahim Muhammad Salama al-Daqs was killed along with his 37-year-old wife Raghda Nabil Hammad al-Daqs, their 16-year-old son Omar Abdul-Rahim Muhammad al-Daqs, and their daughters, 17-year-old Rimas Abdul-Rahim Muhammad al-Daqs, Nismah Abdul-Rahim Muhammad al-Daqs, and Sama Abdul-Rahim Muhammad al-Daqs.

In his image on the website Genocide in Gaza, Abdul-Rahim is seen as a middle-aged man with a long, thick beard, dressed in a grey polo T-shirt, posing in front of the Palestinian flag. This image of him was also shared by many social media users, mourning his death. His son Omar is seen wearing a white polo T-shirt.

According to Ali al-Daqs, Muhammad Akram Salama al-Daqs, nephew of Abdul-Rahim and Yasser, was also killed in the strike.

Many social media users expressed their grief over the loss of the Al-Daqs family members, sharing images of the deceased. On Facebook, Husain Abd wrote: “We only say what pleases our Lord: “To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return.” Hajj Abu Hussein Abed, his brothers, and their children extend their warmest Condolences and sympathy for the martyrdom of our neighbors, our people and the neighbors of the family of the late Hajj Abu Fathi al-Daqs.”

On Facebook, Imad Al Salem Al Daq and Hatem Omar mourned the loss of their uncles, Yasser Muhammad and Abdul-Rahim Muhammad, and their family members, writing, “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful (And never think that those who are killed in the way of Allah are dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision. Rejoicing in what Allah has given them of His bounty, and they rejoice for those who have not yet joined them from behind them that there is no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.”

Husain Abd noted that the Al-Daqs family had been displaced from their homes and were living in the Al-Safir Tower opposite the hospital.

Alaa Muhammad Abu Ighbeez (Abu Ali) was killed alongside his son Ali Alaa Abu Ighbeez and another relative, a young man named Muhammad Abu Ighbeez (Abu Anas).

The death of Muhammad Abu Ighbeez was mourned in a post by Belal Dahlan, who wrote, “With the highest verses of pride and honor, we bid farewell to a new moon of our moons and join a constellation of moons of this nation. We announce to you the news of the martyrdom of the beloved, patient and steadfast in the northern Gaza Strip, my beloved cousin (Muhammad Abu Ighbeez Abu Anas).” He added an image of a young man with short dark hair, big brown eyes, and a dark trimmed beard.

Belal Dahlan also mourned the death of Alaa Muhammad Abu Ighbeez (Abu Ali) and his eldest son Ali, calling them “patient and steadfast” and expressing the hope of meeting them in heaven. He added the images of Alaa, who was a young man with a short haircut and a dark, long beard wearing a black jacket and scarf in the attached image, while his son Ali was a teenager, wearing a white T-shirt and standing at the seaside in the attached image.

An eyewitness named Ahmed described the strikes, noting that many victims were displaced civilians sleeping at the entrances of the six-story residential tower after they were forced out of Kamal Adwan Hospital by Israeli forces. Speaking to Al-Araby Post, he said, “After it was targeted, we contacted people to report their disappearance. The extent of the destruction was great, and it was not possible to retrieve the martyrs due to the need for heavy equipment to remove the rubble.”

Dr. Hamad Al-Najjar, director of the Nasser Hospital morgue, explained the challenging process of identifying victims under these circumstances, where “the bodies are brought in, whether they are remains or new, and forensic medicine works to prove the identity of the martyrs by identifying them through visual examination and visual inspection…The bones are then photographed by forensic medicine and criminal evidence, and the bones are registered in the name of the person whose family identified him through signs, evidence and certain belongings he owned.” Due to the destruction of medical infrastructure, they are “unable to use laboratory tests or conduct DNA analysis…which makes visual examination the method used for deduction.” Workers face additional hardships, including the lack of shrouds and sterilization materials needed to properly handle remains while protecting both themselves and grieving families from disease transmission.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Images and videos showed the devastating effects of the strike. A video shared by Said Elhaj on Facebook showed the immediate aftermath of the airstrike, with large clouds billowing to the skies near the heavily damaged buildings. Hamdi Srour shared an image capturing the same moment.

On December 27, 2024, the Palestinian Ministry of Health issued an appeal to the international community to protect “patients, medical staff and treatment centers in Palestine, especially in the Gaza Strip,” following the strikes on Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia. The ministry held both Israel and the international community “fully responsible for the lives of patients, their companions and the medical staff in Kamal Adwan Hospital, numbering 350,” after communication with them was cut off. It reported that Israeli forces had surrounded the hospital in the morning, ordering everyone inside to gather in the yard as troops prepared to storm the facility following the strikes on the previous day.

Likewise on December 27th at 12:54 PM, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) posted to Telegram, declaring a raid on the Kamal Adwan hospital. The statement declared the ground operation, but not the preceding strikes. In line with Airwars’ methodology, researchers have not recorded this as a declared strike but have saved the IDF Telegram post in relation to this incident, and will update the associated strike status should additional information become available.

Where possible, the names of the victims have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which include national ID numbers. Since October 26, 2023, the MoH has released a number of 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 ninth “Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza”, which was released on June 23, 2025. The ages of some victims have been found by cross-checking names against lists of fatalities shared online by Genocide in Gaza, which has a list of “martyrs” of Israeli forces.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the incident to Israeli forces.