Around 03:00 on Tuesday, October 10th, 2023, a rocket or missile allegedly fired by Israeli military hit a residential apartment in the Al Saad building in the town of Deir Al Balah, Gaza Strip, killing a family of six people – including a woman and four children – and injuring a number of civilians.
Safa News reported that the bombing occurred at 03:23 and injured and killed multiple civilians. Alaa Abu Qasem shared an image of the direct aftermath of the bombing where the cloud of smoke can be seen arising over the building.
A 43-year old Dr. Luay Omar Alwan (Abu Mohammed) was killed alongside his 41-year old wife Ikram Ahmed Ateya Alwan (Al Kurd) and their four children – 17-year old eldest son Mohammed Luay Omar Alwan Alwan, 5-year old son Bilal Luay Omar Alwan, a son named Mohanad Luay Omar Alwan whose age is unknown, but below 17 years of age based on an image, and 8-year old daughter Dana Luay Omar Alwan. Mohammad Ibraheem Qarous shared images of their bodies wrapped in white cloth, saying “May God grant them the highest Paradise in Paradise without judgment or previous torment.”
A month before, Luay Omar Alwan Al Kurd had earned his master’s degree from the Economics department of the Islamic University of Gaza. Pictures posted by loved ones show a middle-aged bearded man smiling in a meeting, presenting research, and holding an award. Ismail Yousef and Osama Al-Dakran called the late Luay Omar a “beloved brother and neighbour”. A Twitter/X user Adham Abu Selmiya (@adham922) wrote that “God bears witness that he was one of the most moral and polite people.”
He, his wife, and four of their children were also mourned by relatives, neighbours, colleagues, and friends. A Facebook user Abu Yahya shared a picture of Luay’s young smiling son Mohanad.
Safa News reported that “injuries” resulted from the strike but didn’t specify how many.
Only one source, Facebook user Issa Alwan, explictly wrote that the bombardment was perpetrated by Israeli military. However, Airwars has matched the names of some of the civilians killed with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023, which explicitly mentions that names on the list are “victims of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip”. Therefore, this incident has been graded as Likely Strike, and civilian harm status as Fair.
Due to the scale and urgency of Airwars’ assessment process, all images have been automatically uploaded to each assessment with the graphic filter applied to protect users. We have also included all images identified from the sources, which may also include any imagery of combatants.
The incident occured at 03:23:00 local time.
