Up to seven civilians were killed, including two children, and as many as 34 people were injured, when an alleged rocket fired by a Palestinian armed group landed in Saleh Dardouna Street, near the al-Omari Mosque in Jabalia, north Gaza on May 10th 2021, according to multiple sources.
An investigation by Human Rights Watch revealed that seven civilians had been killed. The victims were named as: Bara al-Gharabli, 6; Mustafa Mohammad Obied, 14; Mousa Khamees Junied al-Zain, 20; Raed Abu Warda, 33; Nabeel Noman Dardona, 24; Ismat al-Zain, 50; and Basheer Aloush, 54. Fifteen people were said to have been injured, including five children. A shopkeeper who witnessed the strike identified one of the injured children as Mohammed Shaban.
In a report published on May 11th 2021, Defence for Children International – Palestine, said eight civilians had been killed and as many as 34 injured, 10 of them children. Mustafa Mohammad Mahmoud Obaid, 16, was killed in the blast, and five-year-old Baraa Wisam Ahmad al-Gharabli succumbed to his injuries around 11 p.m. on May 10.
Another man, Zakaria Ziad Alloush, was also reported to have been killed. Tributes were paid online by relatives who identified Basheer and Zakaria Alloush as uncle and nephew respectively.
Four people, who were on the street at the time, said they saw a rocket rise into the sky above them and then fall to the street. Two adults said they saw the rocket approach from the northwest. Human Rights Watch spoke to a relative of one of the deceased who was at the scene. He gave the following account: “At about 6 p.m. I was standing near the entrance to the local market on Martyr Salah Dardona Street. I was near about 50 people who were close together in the street. Some of them were there to get food for poor people, cooked by locals wanting to help the poor during Ramadan. Suddenly, I heard a barrage of rockets being fired and I looked up and saw them rise in the air. I saw one rocket rising in the shape of a spiral and then it came down in the middle of the street about 10 meters from where I was standing.” The relative said that among those killed and injured were a father and a child washing a car, a man riding a motorbike, a child coming to get a plate of food, a woman exiting a hairdresser’s shop, and a child playing in front of a bicycle shop. The relative later spoke to a person who told him that six rockets had been launched from the Sheikh Radwan area of Jabalya.
The wife of one of those killed gave the following account: “[My husband] had just come home from work. He had bought sweets and new clothes for everyone, in preparation for Eid [Muslim holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan]. Before he left, he gave the kids some sweets and kissed and hugged them. Then he asked me to look after the kids, as he wanted to buy one more thing. He told me he wouldn’t be delayed, as he was feeling tired. But he never came back.”
Some sources, including accounts from relatives of the victims, reported that Israeli forces were responsible for the strike. Human Rights Watch determined, based on witness accounts during site visits, munition remnants, and a review of video footage, that the casualties had been caused by a Palestinian rocket. Defence for Children International – Palestine came to the same conclusion citing Palestinian security sources and explosives experts.
The website NGO Monitor reported that one of the deceased, Issmat Shaaban Al-Zain had been a member of the Izz Ad-din Al-Qassam brigades. Al Qassam verified that he was a member, posting in their Telegram channel “The martyr Al-Qassami Mujahid / Ismat Sha`aban Al-Zein from Jabalia Al-Balad, who was martyred during the battle of #Saif_Al-Quds”. The Israeli Defense Force also identified Raed Abu Warda as “a Hamas terrorist operative [who] was killed in a failed jihadist launch” but Raed’s name was not posted in the official Al Qassam Telegram channel.
The strike occurred at 18:00 local time.
The incident occured at approximately 6:00 pm local time.
