Seventeen people were reported injured after an alleged Israeli device detonated at on the afternoon of 27 January, 2025 in the town of Al-Qarara in Khan Younis.

Many of the wounded were members of the Abdel Ghafour family.

Forty-one-year-old Yahya Abdel Samee’a Abdel Ghafour was injured with his son, 18-year-old Mohammed. 36-year-old Alaa Abu Jamiza, a Municipality officer, was also injured, as was 20-year-old Talal Suleiman al-Samiri and 35-year-old truck driver Mohammed Abu Jariban. 20-year-old Hassan Mazen Abdel Ghafour was injured, as was Qasem Akram Abed Ghafour, 47-year-old Alaa Fayeq Abdel Ghafour and 41-year-old Ayad Ziad Abdel Ghafour.

Many of the injured were children: 15-year-old Saeed Abdel Hai Tawfiq Abdel Ghafour, 15-year-old Mohammed Mazen Abdel Ghafour, 15-year-old Mahmoud Diaa Fakhri Abdel Ghafour, 15-year-old Nizar Tawfiq Ibrahim Abdel Ghafour, 12-year-old Tahrir Ayad Ziad Abdel Ghafour, seven-year-old Amin Mohammed Amin Abdel Ghafour and four-year-old Abdullah Ayad Ziad Abdel Ghafour. Another child, Alaa Ihab Abed Ghafour, whose age is undisclosed, was also reported wounded.

A photograph shared by Facebook user Mazen N Breem showed a severely injured boy. Heavily covered in dust and wearing a football sweatshirt torn during the incident, the boy sustained burns on his face; the explosion irritated his eyes, which have swelled.

Early reports claimed a smaller injury toll, but maintained that the majority were severe: “6 injuries, including 4 in critical condition”. It is thus likely, due to the final toll of 17 wounded, that the critical injury toll was also higher. A family member, Mosa’ab abed Al Ghafour, specified that the injuries ranged from “serious to moderate”.

X/Twitter user @Sa7atPlBreaking reported that the object was “left behind […] in a bulldozer”. The Facebook page for the Al-Qarare Municipality clarified that the bulldozer was being used to “level the land for the displaced people in the Al-Abdul Ghafour area east of Al-Qarara” and that the device detonated “during the work”. Facebook user Diaa Abu Aoun shared a photograph of the machine.

Accordingly, social media users advised care when approaching rubble and “returning to homes and lands that witnessed Israeli incursions”, recommending that people use “caution and attention”.

Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the explosive device to Israeli forces.