On Monday, October 16, 2023, 10 to 11 civilians, including at least four women and at least three children, were killed and between 24 and 30 were wounded in an alleged Israeli airstrike on the homes of the Okal, Hijazi and al-Shaer families, in northwest Rafah.
Safah news reported on “dozens of martyrs and wounded” as a result of the bombing, while a source on social media described it as a “very large massacre.” Sources on social media including Waleed and Yabark Rafah shared powerful images and videos of the wounded, which included pictures of at least three heavily wounded children and a video of doctors desperate attempts to revive a wounded child. Ayyam News detailed that the bombing was “sudden”, causing “the death of eight martyrs, about 30 wounded, and the loss of a number of others.” Al Mayadeen news cited a statement by the Ministry of Interior in Gaza where they noted the bombing of the Okal and al-Shaer family homes in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, attributing the strikes to Israeli forces.
Manal Hijazi, a possible relative, detailed the names of the victims who were killed in the bombing – “the freed prisoner” Akram Muhammad Hamdan Hijazi (Abu Hajar) whom other sources called the “great Fatah leader”. His wife Reem Muhammad Abdel Razzaq Hijazi, three of their children Muhammad Akram Muhammad Hijazi, Imad Akram Muhammad Hijazi, and Nour Akram Muhammad Hijazi, Reem’s mother Fatima Hamdan Hussein Okal, Mona Mahmoud Okal (wife of Adila), their neighbor Abdul Karim Ali Muhammad al-Shaer, and his wife Ruwayda Ibrahim Salem al-Shaer. Feras al-Shaer mourned the death of Abdul, who was a Professor, and Ruwayda, as well the death of Ammar Muhammad Ali al-Shaer, whom another source refers to as “the poet”. Sources also mention the death of an unnamed cousin of Akram Hijazi, with Ahmad Adam adding that the “number of wounded is 24.” Pictures of two of the killed children in their athletic uniforms, Imad and Muhammad, were shared by their sports academy, saying “the stars of Score Academy in Rafah.”A possible relative of the family penned a prayer and tribute for their loved ones killed in the bombing, saying “May God have mercy on you and make your abode paradise/You broke me and broke my heart/I swear it’s early, my brother-in-law/It’s early, my heart, Umm Hajar, I swear it’s early/My beloved ones are gone.”
A tweet from @Hamzaalnamla1 referred to the location of the strike as occurring “near Al-Massa Hall, northwest of Rafah” and mentioned that the victims of the strike were “among the displaced”. Another source stated that the bombing was “inside the Tal Al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah”.
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 strikes to Israeli forces.