At 4:30 am on Tuesday, October 17, 2023, between 15 and 40 civilians were killed and dozens more were injured in an alleged Israeli airstrike that hit the al-Lamdani family house in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
Facebook posts by family members reported the names of the civilians that were killed: Ibrahim al-Lamdani, his wife and children who remain unnamed, his brother 54 year old Ahmed al-Lamdani and his unnamed wife and children, Ibrahim and Ahmed’s sister Jamila al-Lamdani and her unnamed children were among those killed. Ibrahim and Ahmed’s nephew, 40 year old Muhammad Ihsan al-Lamdani and his wife Elham Hamdan al-Lamdani, were killed, as were their children: 21 year old Hossam Muhammad al-Lamdani, 20 year old Mahmoud Muhammad al-Lamdani, 14 year old Youssef Muhammad al-Lamdani, 8 year old Islam Muhammad al-Lamdani, 17 year old Nagham Muhammad al-Lamdani and 11 year old Farah Muhammad al-Lamdani. In addition, 38 year old Sabreen al-Lamdani, Muhammad’s sister, was also killed, along with her unnamed children.
A tweet from @ShehabAgency put the number killed at “more than 40” and added that many of those killed had fled to Khan Yunis after being displaced from their northern homes. The lowest death toll provided by local sources was 15 killed.
Photos of the shrapnel from the weapon that hit the house have circled social media, as have photos of injured people, the rubble, and victims in body bags. Family and friends have written heartfelt messages on Facebook. Mosa, the brother of Elham, wrote “With hearts that believe in God’s will and power, today my beloved sister, the martyr, bled (Elham Hamdan Abu Muammar). Her husband, the martyr (Muhammad Ihsan al-Lamdani), and their martyred sons”. Mohammad wrote “May God have mercy on your soul, O Abu Hassam, a clean, respectable and decent man. I testify to your honesty and politeness. A thousand mercy and light descend on your grave, my dear. May God reward you, Khan Yunis. We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return.”
18 year-old Dima al-Lamdani lost most of her family, including her parents, seven siblings and four members of her uncle’s family. Dima, who was trapped under rubble after the explosion (and is pictured with cuts on her face), described the horror of waiting to be found: “The time I spent waiting to be found were some of the most horrifying moments. I was about to lose my mind.” She was luckily found alive in the rubble after waiting for help for several hours. In an interview with the Reuters she said “This is a nightmare. It will never be wiped from my memory,” she said. “I had a sister, 16. They wrote my name on the white sheet they wrapped her body in, they thought it was me.” To the Guardian, she spoke of her disillusionment of a future without her family: “I am crumbled now. No dreams, no hopes, no plans. I can’t imagine my life without my mother, sister and father. The Israeli forces betrayed us. There is no place that is safe.” Dima, her brother, and her two younger cousins were pulled from the rubble and were the only survivors from the family. This coincides with another source, Bashira Akkad, which also mentioned that “only 4 of them survived serious injuries”.
Where possible, Airwars has matched names with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of nearly 7000 victims’ names and ID numbers released on October 26th
The type of strike is contested on social media, with some sources saying it was an explosive barrel or another internationally banned weapon. Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military.
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 approximately 4:30 am local time.
