On the evening of October 9th, 2023, up to 14 civilian members of the al-Madhoun family, including two women and eleven children, were killed as a result of an alleged Israeli airstrike on the al-Madhoun family home located behind the Golden Hall in the Americana area west to the town of Beit Lahyia in the northern Gaza Strip. A fifteenth member of the family was killed and has been identified as a militant. According to the Defense for Children Palestine (DCI Palestine) report, the attack on the two-story family house happened without a prior warning.

Initially the family members and “Al-Araby Al-Jadeed” correspondent reported about 14 people killed. “The entire family was removed from the civil registry and registered with the Immortals” wrote their relative Fayeq al-Madhoun on Facebook. A family member Ahmad al-Madhoun wrote on the social media platform “X” to confirm the death of the 14 members of the al-Madhoun family, posting the picture of the rubble which used to be the family house. He wrote: “14 members of my family were martyred in a massacre and direct bombing of the Al-Madhoun family home in the Sudaniya area, including children and women!”.

Later, local news agencies Shehab Agency, Wafa News, Daqiqa News reported that the Israeli military bombed the home of the two brothers, 37-year-old Dr. Muhammad Abdel Rahim al-Madhoun and 33-year-old Dr. Ahmed Abdel Rahim al-Madhoun* (a militant), subsequently leading to their death and the death of 13 other family members of the al-Madhoun family, including Muhammad’s wife and six children and Ahmed’s wife and five children. The brothers’ cousin Abu Habib shared testimony on Facebook, posting pictures of the two brothers who lost their lives in the attack.

When Airwars first published this incident, no open sources were found to suggest that Dr. Ahmed Abdel Rahim al-Madhoun was a militant. As such, Dr. Ahmed al-Madhoun was recorded as a civilian. This was in line with Airwars’ methodology which is employed across all conflicts we document, and informed by international standards regarding the ‘presumption of civilian status'. Specifically, as outlined by the International Committee of the Red Cross, civilian status is assumed until evidence is identified to the contrary.

On May 6, 2026, a Telegram account affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)'s armed wing published a tribute to Dr. Ahmed al-Madhoun, identifying him as a commander. As such, Airwars updated Dr. Ahmed al-Madhoun's status from civilian to militant and changed the minimum number of civilians reportedly killed in this incident from 15 to 14.

The following day, on October 10th, a family member Abu Mohammed Madhoun confirmed on Facebook that the six children of Muhammad Abd al-Rahim al-Madhoun killed in the airstrike were: Fatima Muhammad Abd al-Rahim al-Madhoun (female, child, 7), Amani Muhammad Abd al-Rahim al-Madhoun (female, child, 4), Mahmoud Muhammad Abd al-Rahim al-Madhoun (male, child, 9), Akram Muhammad Abdel Rahim al-Madhoun (male, child, 10), Karam Muhammad Abdel Rahim al-Madhoun (male, child 3), Watan Muhammad Abdel Rahim al-Madhoun (male, child, 1), alongside Amal Mahmoud Zayed al-Zaanin (al-Madhoun) (female, 39 years old) – likely to be Muhammad Abd al-Rahim al-Madhoun’s wife. The source added that specialised teams continued to search for the remaining members of the family under the rubble of their home.

Sources on the ground told correspondents for the Palestinian News Agency ‘Wafa’ that the brothers’ father  Abdul Rahim (Akram) Musa Al-Madhoun, their mother and two brothers were killed by an alleged Israeli bombing of the neighboring house during the 2021 Israeli campaign in the Gaza Strip. However, their relative Douha Madhoon wrote on Facebook that in fact their father, their younger brother Abdullah, and Muhammad’s first wife were killed at that time, while their mother had died of cancer years ago.

The deaths of so many members of the al-Madhoun family were reported on by relatives across the globe. In Australia, a family relative, Hadeel al-Madhoun, spoke to the Sydney Morning Herald to tell the story of her father learning of the loss of life of at least 14 family members through an Al Jazeera report. “A 78-year-old Mousa al-Madhoun was sitting in the loungeroom of his Mickleham home, in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, watching Al Jazeera, when a reporter announced an Israeli missile had destroyed the Al-Madhoun family compound in Beit Lahia, an area in the northern part of the territory, killing 14 people. He dropped the cup of coffee he was holding, stared at the screen and started crying”, she told the Sydney Morning Herald.. The brothers who owned the house were Mousa’s cousins. Hadeel Al-Madhoun told the Australian reporters that she had lost at least 33 family members in Gaza since the Israeli bombardment began. “I don’t think the world is really seeing what is happening,” she added.

A Palestinian American, Hani Almadhoun, who lives in Virginia learned Monday morning from a Telegram chat that an Israeli airstrike killed at least 14 members of his family, including five children and elderly relatives. “Death comes very fast,” Almadhoun told HuffPost. “We don’t get any solidarity.” Before, he hadn’t been able to reach his family in Gaza for the last four days.

Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which include national ID numbers. Since October 26, 2023, the MoH has released six lists, along with an additional list of medical professionals, which was released on September 17, 2024. Airwars is matching individuals to the first list where their name appeared. In regard to this incident, all but two names are matched to the first ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ list, which was released on October 26, 2023. In the case of brothers Dr. Muhammad Abdel Rahim al-Madhoun and Dr. Ahmed Abdel Rahim al-Madhoun, the names are matched to the third ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ list, which was released on April 1st, 2024.

*Some sources mentioned the names of the two brothers as Muhammad Akram and Ahmed Akram. According to the sources, such as Almadhoun on Facebook, their father had a double name – Abdul Rahman (Akram).

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