Between 19 and 22 people were killed and a number were injured, including serious injuries, on the morning of Monday, October 16, 2023, when the home of the Zaqmat family, in the Qaizan Al-Najjar neighbourhood, in southern Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, was reportedly bombed by an Israeli military aircraft.
The Palestinian Civil Defence reported that two residential homes were hit in the incident and posted images on Facebook of the Bani Suheila municipality Civil Defence team working to remove victims from the rubble and sand.
Sources identified 19 victims from at least three family groups. Grandparents 52-year-old Mohammed Zayed Zaqmat Al-Shaeer (also known as Abu Zayed) and 50-year-old Aisha Mohammed Al-Sayed Al-Aqqad (also known as Umm Zayed) were killed alongside their 30-year-old son, Zayed Mohammed Zayed Zaqmat (also known as Abu Sajjad). Zayed’s wife and daughter were also reported by the Al-Shaeer family as having been killed but their names were not identified. Zayed’s daughter has been assumed to be a child based on Zayed’s age.
A 45-year-old woman called Randa Abdul Gawad Al-Aqqad (also known as Umm Mohammed) was killed alongside her six children. Her sons, 22-year-old Mohammed Al-Sayed Al-Aqqad and 14-year-old Anas Al-Sayed Mohammed Al-Aqqad were killed as well as her daughters 24-year-old Douaa Al-Sayed Al-Aqqad, 21-year-old Maryam Al-Sayed Al-Aqqad, 19-year-old Nour Al-Sayed Mohammed Al-Aqqad and 16-year-old Alaa Al-Aqqad.
One source, Hani Shaker al-Bana, reported that all members of the Al-Sayed family had been killed in the incident except for the father, Al-Sayed Mohammed Al-Sayed Al-Aqqad. A family member called Youssef Al-Aqqad posted on Facebook a prayer for the speedy recovery of Al-Sayed Mohammed Al-Aqqad, likely implying that he was injured in the incident.
A family member called Tamer Al-Aqqad, in a post on Facebook, described Aisha as the paternal aunt of the Al-Sayed children.
Another group of six children and young people from the family were killed; they are likely a set of siblings, however, this cannot be confirmed. Three young women, 21-year-old Yasmina Abdullah Mohammed Al-Aqqad, 20-year-old Lubna Abdullah Mohammed Al-Aqqad, and 19-year-old Amira Abdullah Mohammed Al-Aqqad were killed. Two teenage boys 16-year-old Mohammed Abdullah Mohammed Al-Aqqad and 15-year-old Abdul Rahman Abdullah Mohammed Al-Aqqad were also killed in the incident.
A 45-year-old woman called Suzan Abdullah Hashem Al-Aqqad was killed as well as 49-year-old Abdullah Mohammed Hamdan Al-Aqqad. Abdullah is likely the father of the six children and young people listed above based on their names, however, this cannot be confirmed.
Although Airwars has identified 19 names, one source, @younisalsragi, posted on X/Twitter that the death toll for the incident had risen to 22.
Three sources mentioned displaced people. Merhdad Khalili, in a post on Facebook, reported the death of Zayed Zaqmat’s family alongside several displaced people. Another Facebook post by a page called Eastern Inclusive reported that Mohammed Zaqmat had opened his home to displaced people from the north of Gaza before the incident. Another source, @Benkanaan2, reported that one person had been killed and five children had been injured in a bombing that took place in Khan Younis of the home of a family that had been displaced from Beit Hanoon, which is a municipality in the northern Gaza Strip.
Multiple sources described victims being buried under the rubble of the home and their bodies being recovered. Aida Mohammed reported in a post on Facebook, that 10 victims from the Zaqmat family remained under the rubble at one point.
The Palestinian news agency, Wafa, reported that the victims were transferred to Nasser Hospital. A photo posted by the Palestinian Civil Defence showed a member of the Civil Defence carrying a limp child into a medical facility.
Hani Shaker al-Bana, a friend of Anas Al-Aqqad posted a heartfelt tribute to him on Facebook, affectionately calling him a “scoundrel” and saying that he had a voice “like one of David’s psalms”. He posted a picture of Anas, commenting that he didn’t know at the time that this picture would be his last.
Hadeel al-Hallees posted a tribute to Randa and her six children on Facebook, describing Randa as “a knowledgeable, loving, giving, a supportive friend and sister, a wonderful mother” and that she would miss her “smile and her sweet words”.
Nassim Hatoum and Hassein Yahi al-Hajj described Zayed Zaqmat in tribute posts on Facebook as a dear friend and as loyal.
The Al-Shaeer family’s Facebook page reported the deaths, posted pictures of the house after it had been destroyed. Pictures taken by a family member called Hani Al-Shaeer showed a digger clearing a large sandy crater where the family house had been and showed significant damage to the neighbouring house. Other pictures posted by the Al-Shaeer family showed civilians and rescue teams pulling victims from the sand and rubble as well as blood-soaked pillows and a destroyed vehicle.
Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli Military.
The names of all identified victims, other than Alaa Al-Aqqad and Maryam Mohammed Al-Sayed Al-Aqqad, have been reconciled to the Palestinian Ministry of Health’s list of fatalities published on October 26, 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 in the morning.
