At 4.30 pm on Tuesday, 10th of October, 2023, at least forty civilians, including a mother alongside her five children and her husband, were killed when an alleged Israeli airstrike hit a six-storey building in Sheikh Radwan, a district of Gaza City. Amnesty International reported that the strike completely destroyed the building and killed at least forty civilians.
Social media testimonies helped to identify some of the victims of the attack. According to the Facebook tribute by Ahmad Ashour, a 31-year-old woman Iman Moshen Ashour was killed alongside her husband Muhammad Abd Ashour and their four children – seven-year-old daughter Rehab Muhammad Abdel Hamid Ashour, five-year-old son Abdel Hamid Muhammad Abdel Hamid Ashour, three-year-old son Ahmed Muhammad Abdel Hamid Ashour, and six-month-old son Hamza Muhammad Abdel Hamid Ashour. However, some other sources like Mohammad Ahmad and Omm Ibraheem mentioned that five children of Iman were killed, so the fifth unnamed child may be also among the victims. According to Iman’s father, she and her children had come to the area to seek safety.
Family members of Iman and Muhammad grieved their deaths, along with their five children, and wished condolences to Iman’s mother who they are survived by. AlHajj Abu Mohammad shared the pictures of the four deceased children in his Facebook post.
Mahmoud Ashour, father of Iman, told Amnesty International that: “My daughter and her children came here to seek safety because this area was relatively safe in previous attacks. But I couldn’t protect them, I have no trace left of my daughter. I’m talking to you now as I’m trying to remove the rubble with my hands. We cannot even count our dead.” Ahmad Ashour added that in addition to those killed, “two days after their house was bombed, my cousin emerged from under the rubble alive” – it is unclear who this is referring to.
In addition, Fawzi Naffar (61) said that 19 of his family members were killed in the strike, including his wife, children, and grandchildren. Five days after the airstrike, Fawzi had only been able to retrieve the remains of his daughter-in-law and his “son’s shoulder”.
According to Amnesty International, a Hamas member had been residing in the building. However, he was not present at the time of the airstrike. Amnesty International notes that the presence of a fighter does not transform the building, or the civilians residing in that building, into a military objective.
Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to Israeli military.