On October 12th 2023, at least 11 civilians were reportedly killed, with 15 others injured, in an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Al-Zari’i family home on Al-Nakhil Street in Deir Al-Balah, located in the central Gaza Strip.
All 11 of the victims have been identified, including seven members across multiple generations of the Al-Zari’i family. Hajjaj Al-Zari’i (84 years old) was killed alongside his four sons Walid Al-Zari’i (50 years old), Ihsan Al-Zari’i, Osama Al-Zari’i (47 years old) and Saeed Al-Zari’i (43 years old), were killed in the airstrike. Ihsan’s son Hajjaj Al-Zari’i was also killed. In addition, Osama Al-Zari’i’s son Muhammad Al-Zari’i (7 years old), has also been identified in the aftermath of the strike. Abd Alrahim K Alzraiee provided the list of his family members killed, referring to Ihsan’s son Hajjaj Al-Zari’i as a child, and describing him as “my nephew, the hero”.
Muhammad Hamdan Al-Buhaisi (Abu Mahmoud) was also killed in the strike alongside his son, Hamdan Muhammad Al-Buhaisi (33 years old), and Hamdan’s two-year-old daughter, Nour Hamdan Al-Buhaisi. Several family relatives have paid tribute to Muhammad and his children on Facebook, with Abd Alrahim K Alzraiee referring to his friend Hamdan who was killed with his “daughters”. Hidaya Albuhisi posted a memorial for their “dear cousin, the wise and generous, and the great historian Abu Mahmoud” Muhammad Hamdan Al-Buhaisi. Mohammed AL Bohisi named aunt Itidal Othman Al-Buhaisi, Mahmoud Hamdan Al-Buhaisi, his sons and his nephews as among the injured.
In a series of Facebook posts from friends and family, Izz El-Din Younis Ahmed Najib Madi (30 years old) was also killed in the strike. Alaa Abu Jame posted about their sister’s husband Izz El-Din’s death, describing it as “I swear I don’t believe it”. Mahmud Hassan wrote in their memorial for their uncle Izz El-Din “The eyes shed tears and the heart grieves, and we are saddened by your departure”.
According to Wafa News, the home that was bombed belonged to Walid Al-Zari’i and was located on Al-Nakhil Street, while Maali Mohammad Abu Samra referred to the home as belonging to Saeed Al-Zari’i.
Most sources on the incident refer to a complex rescue operation to recover the civilians, with others injured from the incident. A Facebook Post from Mahmoud Mohammad Abu Saleh identified 15 injured civilians.
Where possible, Airwars has found named civilians among the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of names published on October 26th.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.