Between 30 and 42 people, from a three month old to a 77 year old, were killed and a large number were injured when the home of the Saqa Allah family was reportedly bombed in what was reported to be a “double tap” Israeli airstrike during the night of Wednesday, October 18th 2023. The home was located behind a coffee shop in Sheikh Ajleen near Tal al-Hawa, in the west of the Gaza Strip.
Everyone who had been in the house was reportedly killed. Videos provided to CNN showed “charred ruins and rubble, of what relatives say used to be three buildings” in the Saqallah family compound. Relative’s accounts, reported by CNN, described a first strike followed by a second strike that reduced the compound to rubble and reportedly killed any survivors in the compound.
The victims were identified by their relatives as a set of four brothers 51-year-old Saed Mohammed Khourshid Saqa Allah, 49-year-old Omar Mohammed Khourshid Saqa Allah, 43-year-old Khourshid Mohammed Khourshid Saqa Allah and 37-year-old Ameed Mohammed Khourshid Saqa Allah (Abu Saif) as well as their sister 47-year-old Maysoon Mohammed Khourshid Saqa Allah and her son and daughter. Saed was killed alongside his wife, Noha Al-Qishawy, their son, 27-year-old Mohammed Saed Khourshid Saqa Allah and his wife 24-year-old Alaa Ayman Jafer Al-Helo as well as Saed’s daughters, two other sons and all of his grandchildren, according to a post by Saleh Abu Muhammad. Omar, also known as Abu Karam, was killed alongside his wife, 47-year-old Sahar Issam Abo Shaban, their daughters, their son 15-year-old Ahmad Omar Khourshid and Sahar’s father, 77-year-old Isam Jalal Abo Shaban. Isam’s wife, 67-year-old Layla Saqa Allah Abo Shaban (Umm Jalal) and their son, Ahmed, and daughter were also killed.
Multiple sources reported that the extended Saqa Allah family had gathered together in one house in Sheikh Aljeen to shelter from the ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip. CNN put the number of those killed at 42, while Press TV pointed out that the death toll was between 30 and 42.
CNN interviewed Manal Saqa Allah, the sister of Saed, Omar, Khourshid, Ameed and Maysoon, and her husband Tariq Hamouda, who have both lived in Minnesota, USA since 2004. Manal lost almost all of her family overnight and Tariq said that, even a week later, he and Manal could barely comprehend the news. He said that Manal loved every member of her family and spent the summer with them. Tariq also said that they didn’t have time to mourn as they were worried about the safety of few the who survived.
The elderly mother of Manal, Saed, Omar, Khourshaid, Ameed and Maysoon, referred to as Umm Saed and her grandson Karam Omar Saqa Allah survived the incident according to a Facebook post by Wasim Saqer. Tariq Hamouda reported that Umm Saed had been standing on a balcony when the first strike occurred and she had been able to escape with the help of another surviving relative. Tariq reported that she had said her sons had tried to evacuate but had not had time, adding that his family were not involved in any military activity.
Another American relative, South Florida resident, Eyad Abu Shaban, said “It’s like your whole world stops” and that the number of people killed in the incident is really hard to cope with. Eyad reported that the ages of the victims ranged from three months old to 77 years old and that they were all staying in a single compound.
According to Tariq, surviving family members told him that, before the incident, the Israeli Defense Force had called to say that there could be military activity in the area but had not told the family to evacuate their home. Adding that there had been bombings happening with and without warnings; he lamented the confusion and fear of the situation.
CNN had reached out to the IDF to confirm the strike. The IDF said they couldn’t comment without the coordinates of the house and the family declined to provide them for fear of reprisal.
Eyad Abu Shaban reported that amongst the victims in his family were multiple medical professionals and of the four brothers, Saed, Omar and Khourshid were eye doctors and Ameed was an ENT specialist. The Saqa Allah family ran the largest network of family-owned eye clinics in the Gaza Strip.
Many tributes were made to the family on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), including a post from Adham Al-Sofar E who described the family as “the best people in morals and manner” and “friends like no other”.
CNN reported that the community in Maple Grove, Minnesota had rallied around Tariq and Manal, many had offered their support and others had gone to Brooklyn Park Islamic Center to pray for the family.
Tariq, Manal and Eyad expressed their deep distress to CNN, with Eyad saying “We’ve never seen in this day and age where the whole world is watching innocent people just being torn apart. Families, whole families, just wiped off the map,” and “I want everybody to know that the people of Gaza are just like them, they hurt, they bleed, they have families, they have feelings.”
Many sources reported that the bodies of victims were buried under rubble.
The surviving family members wrapped the victims in white burial shrouds and buried them in a mass grave, shown in a video provided to CNN.
Saed, Omar, Khourshid, Ameed, Maysoon, Mohammed, Sahar, Alaa, Isam, Layla and Ahmed Khourshid were matched to the list of fatalities published by the Palestinian Ministry of Health on October 26, 2023. Their names, ages and ID numbers are listed below.
Saed and Noha’s unnamed sons, daughters and grandchildren as well as Omar and Sahar’s unnamed daughters are not listed below unfortunately as no sources have confirmed how many they are.
The incident is likely to have occurred in the night between October 18 and 19, 2023. However, the exact time of the incident is not known.
Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the strike 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 around midnight.
