Israel and Gaza 2023

Satellite imagery, screenshot from Google Earth, October 2023

Belligerent
Israeli Military
Country
Syria
the Gaza Strip
start date
end date
Civilian Harm Status
Belligerent Assessment
Declassified Documents
Infrastructure

Incident Code

ISSY031

Incident date

February 19, 2023

Location

قلعة دمشق, Damascus castle, Damascus, Syria

Airwars assessment

A guard at a historical site in Damascus was injured by allegedIsraeli airstrikes or Syrian regime anti-aircraft missiles on February 19, 2023.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), Syrian regime-run news source, reported that Israeli airstrikes hit Damascus ancient castle, causing the injury of one of its guards on duty. SANA added that in addition to severe material damage to the buildings and administrative offices in the castle, the airstrikes caused destruction in the Technical Institute for Applied Arts and the Technical Institute for Archeology.

Sources were conflicted as to who was responsible for the casualties, with Damascus Voice quoting civil sources who blamed the damage on the air defenses while SANA attributed the damage to Israel.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attackers
    Israeli Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (3) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (6) [ collapse]

  • Damage to the Damascus castle and citadel on February 19, 2023. (Image posted by Damascus Voice via Facebook)
  • Damage to the Damascus castle and citadel on February 19, 2023. (Image posted by Damascus Voice via Facebook)
  • Damage to the Damascus castle and citadel on February 19, 2023. (Image posted by Damascus Voice via Facebook)
  • Damage to the Damascus castle and citadel on February 19, 2023. (Image posted by Damascus Voice via Facebook)
  • Buildings belonging to the ancient #Damascus Citadel were damaged due to the Israeli bombing

Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attackers
    Israeli Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (3) [ collapse]

Incident Code

ISSY032

Incident date

April 4, 2023

Location

الكسوة, Al Kisswa, Damascus, Syria

Geolocation

33.358774, 36.252222 Note: The accuracy of this location is to City level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On April 4th, 2023 at 12:15am, an airstrike either launched by Israeli forces or an air defense missile launched by the Syrian regime hit a glass factory in Al-Kisswa, south of Damascus, in Rif Dimashq, resulting in the death of up to two civilians.

Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), a Syrian regime-controlled news source, reported that two civilians were killed and martial damage was caused by the airstrikes. According to Orient news, Amr Niam was one of the people killed and he was described by loyalist pages as someone who reportedly fought 12 years ago with the Assad militia and was killed by “friendly fire” after his demobilization.

Athar Press quoted the head of the municipality of Al-Kisswa, Muhammad Al-Hayek, who said that “the young man (Omar Naim) works as a watchman in the glass warehouse that was targeted at dawn today.” @Kenan80490227 on Twitter corroborated that he was a facility guard, writing about the attack “in which the facility guard spent his last night before he was killed”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights posted on Twitter that one of the dead was a member of “Hezbollah”.

The glass plant sustained infrastructure damage as well. Al-Hayek clarified that the 500 square meter factory was almost. completely damaged. He said, “The glass goods in it have become like sand, in addition to the roof of the warehouse falling to the ground along with the walls,” indicating that this warehouse is private and does not belong to any government agency.

A military source speaking to Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) claimed that the Syrian regime air defence system intercepted the missiles and shot them down. Radio Al Kul quoted Voice of Capital, which attributed the civilian casualties to a Syrian regime air defense missile and not an Israeli missile.

The incident occured at 00:15:00 local time.

The victims were named as:

Amr Naim
Age unknown male killed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 2
  • (1 man)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Israeli Military, Syrian Regime
  • Suspected target
    Hezbollah
  • Belligerents reported killed
    0–1

Media
from sources (5) [ collapse]

  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli or Syrian regime missile strikes near Damascus on April 4, 2023. (Image posted by @Kenan80490227)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli or Syrian regime missile strikes near Damascus on April 4, 2023. (Image posted by @Kenan80490227)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli or Syrian regime missile strikes near Damascus on April 4, 2023. (Image posted by @Kenan80490227)
  • Damage caused by alleged Israeli or Syrian regime missile strikes near Damascus on April 4, 2023. (Image posted by @Kenan80490227)
  • An Israeli missile targeted a glass factory in the Al-Kiswah area in the countryside of Damascus, owned by craftsmen in Damascene glass. The scenes show the recovery of a number of civilian martyrs who were in their workplaces in the factory.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the city of Al Kisswa (الكسوة), for which the generic coordinates are: 33.358774, 36.252222. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 2
  • (1 man)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Israeli Military, Syrian Regime
  • Suspected target
    Hezbollah
  • Belligerents reported killed
    0–1

Incident Code

ISSY033

Incident date

April 29, 2023

Location

حمص, Homs, Syria

Geolocation

34.640616, 36.707550 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Nearby landmark level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On April 29th 2023 the Israeli military reportedly launched missiles which Syrian air defence systems reportedly shot down around 12:55 am in the city of Homs, Syria. There were discrepancies in the accounts of the incident, with some sources reported that three civilians were injured while other reported that four Syrian soldiers were injured.

Local sources varied on their descriptions of the strikes and their resulting damage. Most accounts corroborate the timeline of the missile being launched at midnight and shot down, igniting a petrol station, fuel tankers and trucks.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) also claimed that a munitions depot, under Hezbollah control was hit. SOHR – quoted in Aaswat News, Bladipresse, and Achrafieh News – verified that the missiles hit after midnight but claimed that it struck an ammunition depot belonging to the Lebanese “Hezbollah,” in the area of the Dabaa military airport in the countryside of Homs, which led to its complete destruction, as well as weapons trucks. There were a few accounts by the Observatory, including one claim by sources that the “the gas station belongs to a person affiliated with the Lebanese “Hezbollah”. The Observatory later reported that the incident injured “four Syrian soldiers, and destroying a truck carrying weapons belonging to (Hezbollah).” SOHR also reported that “violent explosions were heard as a result of the explosion of the ammunition stored in the warehouse, and fires were seen burning at the site, without information about human losses so far.”

A tweet from @aabnour quoted Intel Times Hebrew that identified the location as “a military convoy belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah, which was parked at the “Shahr Al-Alewi” gas station near the town of Shinshar on the Damascus-Aleppo road.”

Military sources, who were quoted by Aaswat News, Syrian Arab News Agency (Syrian regime-controlled news), BBC, Almehwar News and other media, claimed that three civilians were injured. Social media posts captured the fire outbreaks.

According to an Israeli website quoted on Halab Today TV,  the missile was prompted by an “Antonov 74” medium sized Iranian cargo plane’s activity in the area.  The IDF did not comment officially on this strike. Homs is near three air defense bases, one of which is in Shinshar, and two are near the suburb of Al-Andalus.

The incident occured between 12:00 am and 12:55 am local time.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Gas facility
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    0–3
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attacker
    Israeli Military
  • Suspected target
    Hezbollah
  • Belligerents reported injured
    0–4

Media
from sources (7) [ collapse]

  • Alleged Israeli strikes on Homs on April 29, 2023. (Posted by Achrafieh News)
  • Location of the strike, posted by @HalabTodayTV.
  • Alleged Israeli strikes on Homs on April 29, 2023. (Image posted by Lebanese-forces)
  • Location of the strike, provided by Intel Times Hebrew and posted by @aabnour
  • Alleged Israeli strikes on Homs on April 29, 2023. (Image posted by @AlarabyTV)
  • Israel bombed weapons depots in Homs, Syria, tonight. The bombing was the heaviest in years
  • From #Homs, last night - side effects indicate what was in storage

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention an vehicles being struck in the vicinity of Shaher Alolaiwi Station (محطة شاهر العليوي). According to research conducted by @aabnour, the potential location of this strike is: 34.640616, 36.707550. Cross referencing evidence from audio-visual material from sources, we are however unable to confirm it as an exact location due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars.

Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Gas facility
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    0–3
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attacker
    Israeli Military
  • Suspected target
    Hezbollah
  • Belligerents reported injured
    0–4

Incident Code

ISSY034

Incident date

May 1, 2023

Location

حلب, al-Nayrab, Aleppo, Syria

Airwars assessment

On May 1st 2023, at around 11:35 pm, Israel allegedly conducted airstrikes southeast of Aleppo near al-Nayrab, reportedly injuring up to seven people, and killing between one to seven others. Two civilians were among those injured.

There were discrepancies amongst the casualty reports on how many of the affected were civilians as opposed to people actively involved in fighting. Syrian Arab News Agency, the Syrian-regime controlled news source, and military sources quoted in other media claim that two civilians and five military personnel were wounded in the incident and one soldier were killed. Multiple local sources posted a picture of an elderly civilian being treated for injuries. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that four regime forces and three fighters loyal to Iran were killed. Zaman al wasl also corroborated that Iranian militia were injured.

Baladi news identified three Syrian army forces killed, providing their names as Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Yunis Suleiman, Lieutenant Alaa Hussein Dayoub, and twenty five year old First Lieutenant Muhammad Fayez Melhem. Hassan Yunis Suleiman was a commander of an air defense system for the regime forces and hailed from the village of Sheikh Badr in Tartous governorate. Alaa Hussein came from the village of Bustan Al-Souj in the Tartous countryside, and Fayez Melhem came from the village of Sriji in the Sheikh Badr countryside.

According to Arabia News, the Israeli raids on Aleppo airport coincide with the imminent arrival of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi to Syria.

The strikes also shut down the Aleppo International Airport and according to Idleb on Twitter, hit a foodstuff warehouse and a factory for sifting bulger as well as damaging residential houses in al-Nayrab on Al-Baqar Market Street. Arabia News reported that air to surface missiles were used.

The incident occured at 23:35:00 local time.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    1–2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Israeli Military
  • Suspected targets
    Assad regime, Iranian military
  • Belligerents reported killed
    1–7
  • Belligerents reported injured
    5

Sources (15) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (12) [ collapse]

  • Fire caused by alleged Israeli strikes on Aleppo on May 1, 2023. (Image posted by @Step_Agency)
  • Images of a bulgar factory allegedly struck by Israeli airstrikes on May 1, 2023. (Image posted by @ShehabiFares)
  • Images of a bulgar factory allegedly struck by Israeli airstrikes on May 1, 2023. (Image posted by @ShehabiFares)
  • Images of a bulgar factory allegedly struck by Israeli airstrikes on May 1, 2023. (Image posted by @ShehabiFares)
  • Lt. Alaa Hussein Dayoub of the Air Defense Forces of the Syrian regime's army killed by alleged Israeli strikes in Aleppo on May 1, 2023. (Image posted by @mazen00711)
  • Graphic image of a civilian injured by alleged Israeli airstrikes in Aleppo on May 1, 2023. (Image posted by @19had93eel)
  • Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Yunis Suleiman, "commander" of one of the air defense systems killed by alleged Israeli strikes in Aleppo on May 1, 2023. (Image posted by @Omar_Madaniah)
  • One of the officers of the Syrian regime forces allegedly killed by Israeli strikes in Aleppo on May 1, 2023. (Image posted by Baladi News)

Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    1–2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Israeli Military
  • Suspected targets
    Assad regime, Iranian military
  • Belligerents reported killed
    1–7
  • Belligerents reported injured
    5

Sources (15) [ collapse]

Incident Code

R4566

Incident date

October 5, 2023

Location

جسر الشغو, Jisr Al Shughour, west of Idlib, Idlib, Syria

Airwars assessment

Around 5:56 in the evening of Thursday, October 5, 2023, a child and a woman were reportedly injured by missile strikes in the city of Jisr Al Shugour, in the western countryside of Idlib, Syria. The belligerent’s identity is contested, with some sources pointing towards Syrian regime forces, and one source, Ibrahim Radwan, identifying Russian and Iranian militias as responsible for the strike. The sources emphasized that this was a renewed attack on the city on that day.

Following the attack, the Syrian Civil Defence said in a post on Twitter/X that they had treated the two injured civilians. In a video shared with the post, the two civilians are seen bleeding and being taken into an ambulance.The name or age of the two civilians is unknown.

According to the tweet by Radio AlKul marked as urgent, the incident happened shortly before 5:56 PM local time.

The incident occured at approximately 5:56 pm local time.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Syrian Regime, Russian Military, Iranian Military

Sources (5) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Iranian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Iranian Military
  • Iranian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Syrian Regime, Russian Military, Iranian Military

Sources (5) [ collapse]

Incident Code

ISPT00012

Incident date

October 7, 2023

Location

مجمع ناصر الطبي, Nasser medical complex, Khan Yunis, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.347002, 34.292327 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Exact location (via Airwars) level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On October 7, 2023, a paramedic was reportedly killed and a number of civilians and paramedics injured by an alleged Israeli strike on an ambulance near Nasser Medical Complex, East of Khan Yunis.

Paramedic Marwan Abu Raida (54 years old), reportedly killed in the strike, was described by a social media source as a Khuza’a town resident, in Khan Younis.

All sources tracked attributed the strike to Israeli forces. Gaza Ministry of Health (MoH) accused Israeli forces of “directly targeting an ambulance in front of the emergency department at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, which led to the injury of many health personnel and citizens”. @PalpostN reported that the Palestinian ambulance was transporting “injured people” to the healthcare facility.  Several sources reported a number of injury to “paramedics and citizens” but no source provided further information on the number or on the identity of the wounded. Pictures of a damaged MoH emergency ambulance were released by sources.

PCHR Gaza said the strike was conducted at 12:00 local time, and was followed 30 minutes later by a second Israeli bombing on another Gaza Ministry of Health ambulance close to Nasser Medical complex. This has been recorded as a separate incident coded as ISPT0013.

Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.

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 12:00:00 local time.

The victims were named as:

Marwan Abu Raida مروان ابو ريدة
54 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 950602979

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Healthcare facility
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man1 healthcare_personnel)
  • Civilians reported injured
    4
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Impact
    Healthcare
    Impact on services or infrastructure relating to education, health or food supply. See methodology note for details.
  • Suspected attacker
    Israeli Military

Sources (12) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (11) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @PalN
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @PalN
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @PalN
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @PalN
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sadaa alshaarie
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Ahmad Qadih
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

Geolocation notes (3) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention an ambulance struck in the vicinity of the Nasser medical complex (مجمع ناصر الطبي). Analysing audio-visual material from sources, we have narrowed the location down to the following exact coordinates: 31.347002, 34.292327.

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  • Tagged visual material from sources.

    Imagery:
    @16_gouda

  • Tagged visual material from sources.

    Imagery:
    @16_gouda

  • Tagged visual material from sources.

    Imagery:
    @16_gouda

Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Healthcare facility
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man1 healthcare_personnel)
  • Civilians reported injured
    4
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Impact
    Healthcare
    Impact on services or infrastructure relating to education, health or food supply. See methodology note for details.
  • Suspected attacker
    Israeli Military

Sources (12) [ collapse]

Incident Code

ISPT0002

Incident date

October 7, 2023

Location

خزاعة, Khuza’a, Khan Younis, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.522567, 34.462869 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Exact location (via Airwars) level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On October 7, 2023, seven members of the Al Najjar family, including two children and three women, were killed and four others were wounded in their three-storey house in Khuza’a, east of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, by an alleged Israeli airstrike.

The airstrike took the life of Hajj Hamdan Al Najjar “Abu Zaki”, a director of the Tribal (Clans) Office at the Ministry of Interior, his wife Zahira Al Najjar “Um Zaki”, their son Mohammed Hamdan Al-Najjar and their daughter Ehtiram Al Najjar. Mohammad Al Najjar was remembered as a well-behaved high school student of 2006 in a Facebook post by Bumat El-Ghad Foundation.

Other members of the Al Najjar family, namely, the wife of their son Salah, Afnan Al Najjar, her son Sanad Salah Al Najjar and her daughter Ayah Salah Al Najjar, are also among the victims of the tragic incident.

On Facebook, the Al-Najjar family page listed the members of the family who had been killed, including Ayah Salah Hamdan Al-Najjar, the young granddaughter of Hajj Hamdan Al-Najjar. The same Facebook page also provided the names of four people who were reportedly wounded as a result of the airstrike: Zakaria Hamdan Al-Najjar, Mrs.Yasmine Tariq Ibrahim Al-Najjar, Yahya Ahmed Ghazi Al-Najjar (a child) and Saif Sabry Muhammad Al-Najjar (a child).

Two sources, namely Shebab Agency and Oud News Agency published information on social media on the strike on October 7, in the evening. Based on the time of publication of these sources, Airwars concluded that the attack might have been conducted between 7pm and 8.30pm local time.
Other sources, such as Palsawa news, reported on the incident the morning of October 8th, at around 9 am. However, it seems that sources referred to when rescue efforts were taking place, and to the moment where victims were pulled from the rubble. It was initially reported by Palsawa news that three killed and three injured people who had been brought to the European Hospital. Later on, while Khuza’a Municipality crews were removing the rubble of the destroyed house, the bodies of Afnan Al Najjar and Ehtiram Al Najjar were recovered from the rubble.

A son of Hajj Hamdan Al Najjar, Zakaria H.Al Najjar, mentioned in his heartfelt Facebook testimony Sanad Salah Al Najjar and Ayah Salah Al Najjar among the victims, thus confirming that the strike had killed seven members of the Al Najjar family.

Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.

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

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 between 7:00 pm and 8:30 pm local time.

The victims were named as:

Family members (11)

Hajj Hamdan Al-Najjar “Abu Zaki” الحج حمدان النجار ابو زكي
Adult male killed
Mrs. Zahira Al-Najjar, “Umm Zaki” السيدة زهرة النجار أم زكي
Adult female killed
Mohamed Hamdan Al-Najjar محمد حمدان النجار
17 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 424376333
Aya Salah Hamdan Al-Najjar ايه صباح النجار
4 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 441081957
Ehtiram Al Najjar احترام النجار
34 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 802479592
Afnan Al Najjar أفنان النجار
25 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 404158313
Sanad Salah Al Najjar سند صلاح النجار
3 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 442962304
Zakaria Hamdan Al-Najjar زكريا حمدان النجار
injured
Yahya Ahmed Ghazi Al-Najjar يحيى احمد غازي النجار
Child injured
Mrs. Yasmine Tariq Ibrahim Al-Najjar السيدة ياسمين طارق ابراهيم النجار
female injured
Saif Sabry Muhammad Al-Najjar سيف صبري محمد النجار
Child injured

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3 – 7
  • (2 children3 women1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    4
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Israeli Military

Sources (36) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (31) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Ismaeel Omar facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Khuzaa school facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Khuzaa school facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sada Al-Sharqiya facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sada Al-Sharqiya facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sada Al-Sharqiya facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sada Al-Sharqiya facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Najjar Family facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Najjar Family facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Hamza Abu Hany facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Hamza Abu Hany facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: PNN facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: PNN facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: PNN facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: PNN facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rawan Almashhrawi
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Khuza'a Municipality
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Khuza'a Municipality
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Khuza'a Municipality
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sada Al Sharqiya
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sada Al Sharqiya
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sada Al Sharqiya
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sada Al Sharqiya
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Pnn network
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Pnn network
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Pnn network
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Asem2030
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Esmaeel omar
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: The Journalist Ahmad Qudeh
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mohammad Amin Abo Farhana
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Najjar Forum

Geolocation notes (2) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention the town of Khuza’a (خزاعة). Analysing audio-visual material from sources, we have narrowed the location down to the following exact coordinates: 31.522567, 34.462869.

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Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3 – 7
  • (2 children3 women1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    4
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Israeli Military

Sources (36) [ collapse]

Incident Code

ISPT0007

Incident date

October 7, 2023

Location

قرب مستشفى غزة الاوروبي, Vicinity of Gaza European Hospital, Khan Yunis, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.303474, 34.320680 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Nearby landmark level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On October 7th 2023, two civilians were reportedly killed and others were wounded in an alleged Israeli drone strike near the European Hospital area located in the southern Gaza Strip.

There is limited reporting on the incident. However, a tweet from user @Shehabagency writes that two Palestinians were killed and ‘others’ were reportedly injured. The use of “others” has been quantified as 2-2 injuries per Airwars’ methodology.

All reporting on the incident does not provide further detail on the wounded.

A tweet from user @Mohammed reports that the incident was in the form of a drone strike. Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.

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 local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Single source claim
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attacker
    Israeli Military

Sources (5) [ collapse]

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the Gaza European Hospital (مستشفى غزة الاوروبي) in the town of Al Fukhari (الفَخّاري), for which the generic coordinates are: 31.303474, 34.320680. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Single source claim
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attacker
    Israeli Military

Sources (5) [ collapse]