At dawn on Saturday October 14th at least 15 members of the extended Al-Tahrawi family, one of whom was a militant, were killed, including three mothers from three families and their six children. An alleged Israeli airstrike hit their family home in Rafah, south of the Gaza strip, flattening the house and killing all the occupants except a young child that was taken into intensive care. At least four civilians were also reported injured in the attack that caused major damage to infrastructure in the surrounding area.
The victims included 66 year old Zaki Hassan Khalil al-Tahrawi (a militant), his wife Umm Muhammad al-Tahrawi and their daughter Ijlal Zaki al-Tahrawi. Umm Hassan, her daughter Reem Nasser al-Tahrawi and her son 25 year old Samir Nasser Hassan al-Tahrawi. Ola Hijazi and her three children, 3 year old Nassar al-Tahrawi, Ahmed al-Tahrawi and 2 year old Kinda al-Tahrawi, were also killed.
Five other names were also listed by family and friends on social media: 14 year old Awad al-Tahrawi, 47 year old Nahed Abdel Karim, Muhammad al-Tahrawi, Reda Al-Tahrawi, and 33 year old Hassan Zaki Hassan Al-Tahrawi (who based on his name may be a child of Zaki and Umm Muhammad). News sources reported that the family members were gradually recovered from beneath the rubble by rescue teams and many were taken into intensive care. In the afternoon of the 14th of October Safa News reported that a woman and two children were recovered from beneath the rubble, bringing the number of victims killed to seven. The following day, on the 15th of October, Shehab Agency reported that a woman and two more children were recovered from the rubble bringing the total number of victims to eleven. Sources reported that rescue crew were still searching for victims in the rubble, and further victims were identified on social media.
A child was reportedly taken to the Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital, where medical staff tried to revive him. While one child was reported to have survived, it is unclear whether this child was the one brought to hospital, as it is unknown whether treatment was successful. A Facebook post from Princess Layan Ana identified four wounded who had been rescued from the rubble at the time. However, other sources mention “those in intensive care” and “a number of injuries” without providing additional figures.
Friends and family members on social media identified the victims and their relation to one another. Om Mohammed, a family member of social media, identified the victims in his family and mourned their deaths commenting ‘you hurt our hearts with your departure, my family and my pride’.
Where possible, Airwars has matched names with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of nearly 7000 victims’ names and ID numbers released on October 26th.
Where sources identified the belligerents, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli sources.
Note on militancy
When Airwars first published this incident, no open sources were found to suggest that Zaki Hassan Khalil al-Tahrawi was a militant. As such, Zaki Hassan 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 November 3, 2026, a Telegram account affiliated with Hamas' armed wing, Al-Qessam Brigades, published a tribute to Zaki Hassan, identifying him as a fighter. As such, Airwars updated Zaki Hassan's status from civilian to militant and changed the minimum number of civilians reportedly killed in this incident from 15 to 14.