On October 16, 2023, 18 civilians were killed and a large number were injured in an alleged Israeli airstrike that hit the al-Arair family home on Al Khalayel road, in the Al Shujaya neigborhood, Gaza City. Two additional individuals were killed and have been identified as militants.
Asma Mohammed, Beit Dajan Today, News Najah, Nabd and al-Haya reported on social media that there were “martyrs and injuries in the bombing of the Al-Arair family’s house”, with Asma noting that people were transporting the casualties “in civilian cars”, sharing images of corpses and injured civilians being carried by other civilians. Mahmoud Harara shared a video of the injured being carried on stretchers and into ambulances, with others attempting to search the rubble of the destroyed building for survivors. He stated that there were “a large number of casualties”, and that “some were taken out and the rest were under the rubble.”
Abeer Aljna posted that “a house inhabited by dozens was bombed”, terming it a “massacre”, while the Gaza News Networks said the house, which belonged to Imad al-Arair, was allegedly bombed “without warning, with about 25 people in it.” Twitter/X user PSLK1154 noted that the alleged bombing took place in the afternoon and that there were “a large number of victims.” Solomon L Reer posted that there were 20 killed in the “al-Arair family massacre”, while Mossad al-Arair posted that two female civilians killed and a child were “still missing under the rubble.”
On October 9th, 2024 the Airwars Investigations Unit, along with Sky News, published an investigation geolocating and matching airstrike footage released by the Israeli military with incidents in the Airwars archive. In total, Airwars’ team identified 17 strikes leading to civilian harm from the first month of the war, of which the Israeli military itself had published footage. This strike was among the 17. As such this incident has been reclassified as a declared Israeli strike, rather than a likely one.
According to relatives on social media, among those killed are 58-year-old Imad al-Arair (Abu Umar), his wife Umm Umar, their sons 30-year-old Khaled al-Arair, 16-year-old Abd al-Qadir al-Arair and 31-year-old Umar al-Arair (a militant), Umar’s wife, and their daughter. Also killed were Imad’s daughter, her husband, her three children, as well as 37-year-old Deeb Fawad al-Arair (a militant) and Iyad al-Arair.
When Airwars first published this incident on March 1, 2024, no open sources were found to suggest that Umar al-Arair was a militant. As such, Umar 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 June 28, 2026, a Telegram account affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)’s armed wing, published a tribute to Umar al-Arair, identifying him as a fighter. As such, Airwars updated Umar al-Arair’s status from civilian to militant.
On July 5, 2026, the same Telegram account published a tribute to Deeb Fawad al-Arair, identifying him as a fighter. As such, Airwars updated Umar al-Arair’s status from civilian to militant, and changed the minimum number of civilians reportedly killed in this incident accordingly.
Photos of the injured and deceased circulate social media and family and friends posted heartfelt and devastating messages. Esraa Aree wrote “a massacre against my family, the al-Arait family. Deep, my cousin, is a martyr, and a number of child martyrs. Some are still under the rubble.”
Muhammad Nabil wrote “My brother, my lover, and my lifelong companion, Umar al-Arair, is a martyr. Your separation is painful, my love.. May God give me patience over your separation, accept you, and grant you the highest paradise in heaven”, sharing an image of himself with Umar, a smiling bearded young man.
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 belligerents all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
According to sources, the incident occurred in the afternoon and without warning.