(Previous Incident Code: ISPT172 )

Around 5:15 pm on May 9, 2023 a confirmed Israeli airstrike destroyed a car east of the town of Al-Qarara, east of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip, killing two alleged militants: 34 year old Wael Muhammad Sabri al-Agha and 28 year old Sa’ed Jawad Abd Farwana and wounding two other people. However, the status of the two men killed as civilians or militants is contested.

On May 9, 2023, @assi_aroq tweeted “Two martyrs were extracted from a vehicle after the occupation bombed it, east of Al-Qarara, east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip” along with photographs of a burning car. Multiple Twitter sources announced the “arrival of two martyrs, who are body parts” at Nasser Governmental Hospital in Khan Yunis with images of emergency workers transporting remains by gurney.

Also on May 9, multiple regional news outlets reported that Wael Muhammad Sabri al-Agha and Sa’ed Jawad Abd Farwana had been killed in the strike. Mezan reported on May 10 that due to the burned condition of the victims’ remains, three hours elapsed after their transfer to Nasser Governmental Hospital before the determination of their identities. Reports from Roya, Hadf, and Mezan all corroborated that two additional people were injured by the strike, but neither they nor any known social media sources provided further information about the identity or combatant status of these survivors or the nature or severity of their wounds. All such reports described the deceased and injured only as “citizens” or “martyrs,” and described the injured only as “others.” It is unclear whether either or both of the injured survivors were also travelling in the car when it was struck.

While social media sources were divided as to whether the car was destroyed by an artillery bombardment or an airstrike, journalistic outlets were unanimous in their description of the incident as an airstrike. Mezan’s report from May 10 alleged specifically that the strike was launched by an Israeli drone, and estimated the local time of the strike as 17:15 pm.

The Israel Defense Forces claimed on May 9 that “an IDF aircraft struck a terrorist squad belonging to the Islamic Jihad terror organization. The squad was taking Anti-tank guided missiles by car to a launch pad in the city of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. IDF soldiers monitored the activity of the squad and struck it while they were on their way to the launch pad.” The IDF announcement did not specify how many members of the “terrorist squad” were allegedly travelling in the car when it was struck or how many were killed or injured in the strike, nor did it include any explicit admission or denial of civilian harm. Social media posts quoting the IDF’s allegation that the victims belonged to the Islamic Jihad Movement purported to show footage of the strike captured by an airborne thermal camera, indicating the use of a drone in a reconnaissance capacity if not a direct combat role. No known news outlet or social media source has yet corroborated the participation of any of the killed or wounded in militant activity.