At least three civilian members of the Abu Butihan family were killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike on their home in Nuseirat Camp on October 17th, 2023. A fourth member was also killed and has been identified as a militant.
Major General Fouad Ali Abu Butihan, 55, was the head of the Crossing and Borders Authority and would oversee crossings out of the Gaza Strip. It was reported that he was killed along with three of his children, a 19-year-old son named Jihad Fouad Ali Abu Buttihan (a militant), and his two daughters, 28-year-old Isra’a Fouad Ali Abu Butihan and 11-year-old Sara Fouad Ali Abu Butihan.
Although Fouad was referred to as a ‘major general’, the description of his role suggests he held a government position, likely to be related to law enforcement, rather than military activity. His combatant status is therefore civilian rather than combatant in this assessment. Airwars will update this assessment should further information come to light about Fouad’s role.
A source on Facebook, Wael Abu Omar, stated two daughters had been killed, and the Abu Buttihan Family Youth Council offered condolences to Abu Butihan and his three children. Multiple other sources also offered a speedy recovery to the wounded, but none identified how many people had been wounded.
Records from Genocide in Gaza (gigaza), a Palestinian organisation documenting the names of Palestinians killed in Gaza, reported that 28-year-old Isra’a Fouad Ali Abu Butihan and 11-year-old Sara Fouad Ali Abu Butihan were killed on October 17, 2023, in an Israeli airstrike that hit “the Abu Butihan family home in Camp 2, near the Ain Jalout Towers in Nuseirat Camp.” As sources noted that Fouad’s two daughters were killed alongside him, as well as the fact that the date, location, and patrilineal name of the entries recording Isra’a and Sara’s deaths match the information included in this incident, Isra’a and Sara have been recorded as Fouad’s two daughters who were reportedly killed.
The Hamas-run government posted a commemorative article for Fouad Abu Butihan: “We mourn a government leader who worked in many government work sites, and he was an example of sincerity and dedication to work and service to our people. We also bid farewell to a national leader who is attested in the field of resistance to [Israel], and who paid the captivity tax for years in [Israeli] prisons.”
When Airwars first published this incident on January 1, 2024, no open sources were found to suggest that Jihad Fouad Ali Abu Butihan was a militant. As such, Jihad 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 March 12, 2025, an Instagram post shared by user anas.abo.yosif posted a tribute to Jihad. The post included a photo collage of Jihad, showing him in one photo wielding a gun, and in another wearing an Al-Qessam Brigades uniform. A pinned story from the same user mourned Jihad as the “martyred mujahid (fighter)”. As such, Airwars updated Jihad’s status from civilian to militant, and changed the minimum number of civilians reportedly killed in this incident from 4 to 3.
Funeral prayers were held later the same day in the courtyard of the al-Aqsa Hospital.
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 belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.