On October 9th, 2023, between five and eight civilians, including up to three children and four women, were reportedly killed and several others injured when Israeli forces allegedly struck the home of the Abu Al-Omrain family in Al-Qarara in southern Gaza. According to available reports, the bombing destroyed the home and caused significant damage to nearby buildings.

Detailing these events, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) stated, “At approximately 2:00 a.m. on the same day, and without prior warning, Israeli warplanes bombed a two-storey house belonging to the Abu Al-Omrain family, located in the town of Al-Qarara, northeast of Khan Yunis, which resulted in its complete destruction on top of its occupants.” Elaborating further on the damage caused by the bombing, the PCHR reported, “A Serious damage to a number of neighboring houses. (5) martyrs were recovered, including (2) two women and two girls. Civil defense crews are still searching for missing persons and victims under the rubble.” This conforms with an account offered by the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights. Both organizations reported that the bodies of five people had initially been recovered from the destroyed home, and that further work was carried out to locate additional missing persons.

According to available reports, this incident resulted in numerous injuries. While no outlet has provided a number of those who were wounded, SHMS News Agency has stated that alongside those killed, “several others were injured.” Hani Abu Mura provided the highest casualty toll of eight members of the family killed on Facebook.

On October 9, a Facebook user named Alaa Younis Abo Al Omarein, who is a relative of those killed,d shared a post claiming to be a relative of those killed. They identified those who lost their lives as “My beloved mother, Hayat Khalil Al-Desouki, 67 years old,” “My dear aunt Howaida Khalil Al-Desouki, 60 years old,” “My beloved sister, Aya Younis Abu Al-Omrain, 29 years old,” “My brother Muhammad Younis Abu Al-Omrain, 39 years old,” “My brother’s wife, Ibtihal Khader Abu Al-Omrain, 33 years old,” “Hayat Muhammad Abu Al-Omrain, 12 years old,” “ Habiba Younis Abu Al-Omrain, 9 years old,” and “Younis Muhammad Abu Al-Omrain, 4 years old.” The family member Alaa Younis was interviewed by the Associated Press a few days later as she was staying in a UN school after her home was destroyed and eight members of her family were killed.

Cairo24 News reported that two of the women who died in the strike were Egyptian: Howaida Khalil Al-Desouki and her sister Hayat Khalil Al-Desouki, 67 years old. Howaida was a pension supervisor at the Educational Administration in Ain Shams in Cairo and was visiting her sister Hayat, who was married 40 years ago to the Palestinian Younis Abu Al-Omrain, and has lived there since then. Ahmed Al-Sayyid Khalil Al-Desouki, a nephew of the two women, told Cairo24 that Mrs. Howaida Khalil Al-Desouki, his aunt, was visiting her sister Hayat Khalil Al-Desouki two weeks ago to offer her condolences to her husband, Younis Abu Al-Omrain, who died after suffering from illness.

@samahpal23 added that the victims were taken to Nasser Medical Complex. Following this incident, Radio Al Zaytouna shared four photographs on Facebook showing a destroyed building surrounded by rubble and debris.

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 cases of Hayat Khalil Al-Desouki Abu Al-Amrain and Younis Muhammad Abu Al-Amrain, the names are matched to the second ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ list, which was released on January 7th, 2024.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces. Multiple sources accused Israeli forces of using internationally banned phosphorus during airstrikes in Al-Qarara.