On 15 October 2023, at least six civilians were reportedly killed and dozens of others, including a woman, were injured by an alleged Israeli airstrike at the headquarters of the Young Muslim Women’s Association located in the centre of Rafah. Sources reported that several missiles were fired.
Four members of the al-Tarturi family, a father and his three sons, were among those killed. Arafat Ismail al-Tarturi (55) and his three sons, Yasser Arafat al-Tarturi (25), Abdullah Arafat al-Tarturi (21) and Muhammad Arafat al-Tarturi (20), have been listed among the dead. Ahmed Saber Ashour, a young man of 18, was also killed in the strike, and his mother was reportedly injured, according to a Facebook post by user Khaleel Ibrahim. Reports on the incident also referred to the death of Abdel-Ati Saeed Abdel-Ati Obaid (40).
Social media posts from family and friends of the al-Tarturi family paid tribute to the family members killed. A colleague of Afarat named Mahmoud Salah Al-Gharban also posted a condolence message to “our humble, gallant father, Arafat Al-Tarturi” and Abdallah Yousef referred to Arafat as “Professor, teacher, friend, father and brother”. Facebook user Canada Camp posted images which show relatives devastated at the scene of the bodies.
A post by Facebook user Abood Abu Howidy commemorated Ahmed Ashour, referring to him as “engineer” and mentioned that his mother was in intensive care.
@ShehabAgency, which reported on the missile strike on the Young Muslim Women’s Association, indicated that these incidents led to “injuries” – without further details on the exact number of civilians wounded, while SHFA News identified four deaths and “dozens of injuries” recovered from the bombing. Abo Yazan Abd Alla provided the highest death toll of seven people killed. An image posted by Firas Abu Sharkh shows two young girls being treated for their injuries and a man being rescued on a stretcher.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
All names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.