During the evening of August 1st 2024, at least five civilians were killed by an alleged Israeli airstrike on Badr School and Dalal Al Maghribi School in the al-Shuja’iyya neighbourhood, east of Gaza City. In addition to those killed, sources reported that the number of those injured ranged from 30 to “more than 45.” Three militants were also reportedly killed, as well as two individuals whose civilian status Airwars is recording as ‘contested’, meaning that they are excluded from the lower range of civilians killed, and included in the upper range of militants killed.
Airwars was able to identify the names of nine individuals killed in the strike. Among them are Abdullah Ahmed al-Fayoumi, Ziad Muhammad Ibrahim Sakr, Abu Ali Haliwa, and Abu’s nephew Yazan Khalil Haliwa were all reportedly killed. While the exact ages of these nine individuals are unknown, in images shared by family members, Abdullah Ahmed al-Fayoumi appears to have been a child.
Muhammad Faisal Daher, Ahmad Jamal “Yassin” Rajab, Moatsem Iyad al-Jarou, Muhammad Ziad Qunaytah, Malik Ishaq Qunaytah were also reportedly killed. All five men were referred to as “valiant lion[s]” by Facebook use Muhannad Ahmad. This term is frequently invoked to celebrate militancy. Following Airwars’ methodology for recording individuals’ civilian status, this invocation alone may lead to a ‘contested’ civilian status. As this was the only such reference to potential militancy for Malik Ishaq Qunaytah, he has been recorded with a contested civilian status.
In addition to being remembered as a “valiant lion”, Mohammed Ziad Qunaytah was also referred to as dying on the “road to Jerusalem”. Similar to the lion invocation, dying “on the road to Jerusalem” is frequently invoked by militant groups. However, it may also be invoked by someone aiming to emphasise that someone lived their life in accordance with Islam. Without explicit reference to Mohammed having engaged in militancy, Airwars has recorded his civilian status as “contested”. This will be updated should additional information become available.
Ahmed Jamal “Yassin” Rajab was referred to as a “valiant lion” alongside Mohammed Ziad and Malik. Additionally, a post from his brother Malik remembered him as a “mujahed”. These two invocations together have led Airwars to record Ahmed as a militant. This will be updated should additional information become available.
Finally, a Facebook post shared by Abu Muhammad named Mohammed Faisal Daher and Moatasem Iyad Al-Jarou as members of the “Qassam Brigades”, the military wing of Hamas. The pair were also remembered as “valiant lions” by Muhannad Ahmad. Given the explicit reference by Abu Muhammad to Al-Qassam, Mohammed Faisal and Moatasem have been recorded as militants. This will be updated should additional information become available.
Just before 5:30 pm local time, the first reports from the Safa Palestinian Press Agency emerged concerning the bombing of the Badr School by Israeli aircraft. Shortly before 6pm, Safa reported an attack on nearby Dallas Al Maghribi School. The Safa reportred that ten people were killed, among them children. As such, the number of children reportedly killed been reported as a range of two-two.
Aerial imagery shows the two school buildings situated directly next to each other, with only a small corridor separating the two. Some sources referred to the strikes on the schools in tandem, citing both the Dalai Al Maghribi and Badr schools. However, most sources cited the Dalal Al Maghribi school. This may be due to the fact that the Dalal Al Maghribi school is larger than Badr school. Based on the timeline in which the strikes reportedly occurred, coupled with the schools’ close proximity to each other, Airwars is considering the strikes on the two school buildings as one incident.
Sharing on Facebook, Atef Sakr posted photos of six young men who were killed in the bombing of Dallas Al Maghribi School and listed the names of the following eight victims: Muhammad Faisal Daher, Ahmad Yassin Rajab, Moatsem Iyad al-Jarou, Muhammad Ziad Qunaytah, Malik Ishaq Qunaytah, Abdullah Ahmed al-Fayoumi, Abu Ali Haliwa, and Abu’s nephew Yazan Khalil Haliwa.
In a separate post, Atef Sakr confirmed the death of his cousin Ziad Muhammad Ibrahim Sakr. Sharing on Facebook, Atef posted three photos of Ziad, writing, “In the massacre of Dalal Al Maghribi School today, the martyrdom of our dear cousin Ziad Muhammad Ibrahim Sakr (Abu Ali).”
Also sharing on Facebook, Yahya Alsayed wrote about the death of his cousin, Moatsem Iyad al-Jarou. In sharing about the martyrdom of his cousin, Yahya posted two images of Moatsem. In the images, Moatsem appears as a young man with brown hair and brown eyes. In one image, Moatsem is wearing a tan baseball cap, green shirt, and looking kindly towards the camera. Moatsem was included in the list of victims shared by Atef Sakr.
Ahmed al-Fayoumi, posting on Facebook, wrote about the death of his relative, possibly his son, Abdullah Ahmed al-Fayoumi, saying, among other things, “To the eternal gardens, my hero, Abdullah Ahmed al-Fayoumi.” In addition to his words, Ahmed shared a video in which Abdullah is lying on a black surface, motionless, dressed in a white shroud. Some cuts are visible on the left side of his face, and a blood stain is seen by Abdullah’s feet. While Abdullah’s exact age is unknown, looking at the video, he appears to be a child. Abdullah’s name was also included in Atef Sakr’s list of those killed in the strike.
In addition to his other posts, Atef Sakr posted about the death of Abu Ali Haliwa, who was among the victims at Dalal Al Maghribi School. In the post, Atef referred to Abu Ali’s nephew, Yazan Khalil Halawa, who was killed alongside his uncle. In the post dedicated to Abu Ali and Yazan, Atef shared a photo of Abu Ali. In the photo, Abu Ali is smiling towards the camera. He has long wavy brown hair, a salt and pepper beard, and is dressed in a tan button-down shirt and brown and white gingham suit jacket.
On August 2nd, Facebook user Ahmad Qunaytah confirmed the death of his brother, Malik Ishaq Qunaytah. In doing so, Ahmad wrote “May God have mercy on you and make your abode in heaven, brother.” Ahmad also included a photo, showing a teenage boy, Malik, smiling towards the camera, his back to the blue sea. In the photo, Malik is wearing a black Under Armour shirt, black watch,and dark navy pants. Though Malik’s exact age is unknown, Malik appears to be a child in the image shared by Ahmad.
Also posting to Facebook, Rizq Ahmed shared photos of his friend Ahmad Yassin Rajab, writing, “The martyrdom of the one dear to my heart, my beloved and companion of my heart, Ahmad Yassin Jamal Rajab (Abu Adi).” In addition to his words, Rizq shared two images of Ahmad. In both photos, Ahmad is seen smiling towards the camera, his head tilted slightly to the right. His hands are crossed in both photos, and he wears a black and silver digital watch.
Adi Mofeed Daher, also posting to Facebook, shared a photo of himself with his brother, Muhammad Daher (Abu Faisal). In the photo, two young men are seen standing in the sea, with families swimming and standing by the shore, behind them. One of the brothers wears a red Nike shirt, and the other a black athletic shirt with a red geometric pattern. At the time of writing, Adi’s profile photo is this same image.
Based on images and descriptions, five of the nine named victims have been listed as adult males, based on images shared by friends and family. Malik and Abdullah are listed as children, based on photographs shared by friends and family members. Images of Yazan Khalil Haliwa and Mohammed Ziad Qunaytah were not available at the time of writing, so their ages are listed as unknown.
Safa News reported that the strike on Dalal Al Maghribi School resulted in “10 martyrs and dozens wounded.” X user @Sa7atPlBreaking reported that three missiles struck the school, resulting in “the martyrdom of 15 and the injury of 30, including children.”
A Facebook user, Tariq Musleh, wrote that more than 15 people were killed in the bombing of Badr School. Safa correspondents, along with X users @shaabradio and @sameh2655014316 attributed the bombing to Israeli military aircraft, stating that there were, “Martyrs and wounded because of the [Israeli] aircraft bombing the Badr school, which shelters displaced people near the Sabha clinic in the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood, east of Gaza City.”
The Jordan Word Media Network posted on Facebook that the death toll at Dalal Al Maghribi School had risen to 15, noting that, “While citizens were trying to rescue those injured by the Israeli bombing, the entire roof of the school collapsed on their heads, which led to an increase in the number of martyrs and wounded.”
X user @AnasAlSharif0 also reported that “the Israeli…forces” fired “three missiles” at Dalal Al Maghribi School. Anas described residents rushing to rescue the displaced people who had been sheltering in the school. However, the intense shelling caused the ceiling of the school to collapse, “which led to the number of martyrs rising to 15…and more than 45 wounded.”
Facebook user Abdo Ball Medals posted a video from Dalal Al Maghribi School showing a body covered with a blanket and a young man mourning, with the caption, “15 martyrs so far.”
Facebook users Activist Hamam Ghazzawi, Ahmed Aljojo, and the Msdr news page highlighted that the Badr School houses displaced people and is situated near the Sabha Clinic.
As a result of the bombing, a building collapsed on several civilians who were attempting to rescue the injured, as reported by X user @ansarallah_1111, who added, “A number of injuries arrived at the Baptist Hospital.”
In addition to the images of some of those killed in the strike, Atef Sakr shared a photo from the site of the strike to Facebook. In his photo, the roof of the Dalal Al Maghribi School is clearly collapsed.
Facebook user Ahmed Hamed al-Kahlout posted a video from the Baptist Hospital, where the casualties from the bombing were taken.
X user @Nawras_Atta reported on fires at the Baptist Hospital caused by alleged quadcopter planes “while receiving the injuries and martyrs from the massacre of Dalal Al Maghribi School” while Youssef Labad mentioned that the victims were being transported to the hospital in ambulances and “animal drawn carts.”
Facebook user Maha Saad shared two videos from the site of the attack: one depicting a person’s hand trapped under the collapsed building, and another providing an overview of the bombed building, including the section that had collapsed.
Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which include national ID numbers. Airwars is matching individuals to the first list where their name appeared. In regard to this incident, names are matched to the seventh and eighth ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ lists.
Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to Israeli forces.