On Thursday October 19th, 2023, three civilian brothers were killed as a result of an alleged Israeli bombing on a house belonging to the Abu ‘Anzah family in New Abasan/Abasan Al-Jadida, east of Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip. A fourth brother, identified as a militant, was also killed.
Local sources including the Palestinian news agency, Safa, and Quds news agency reported that a number of people had died in the bombing, while journalist Ahmad Qudeih and Twitter/X user @jolnarfarag identified the four brothers 40-year-old Hossam Youssef Ahmad Mahmoud Abu ‘Anzah, 45-year-old Ishaq Youssef Ahmad Mahmoud Abu ‘Anzah, 38-year-old Osama Youssef Ahmad Mahmoud Abu ‘Anzah, and 42-year-old Musab Youssef Ahmad Mahmoud Abu ‘Anzah (a militant).
When Airwars first published this incident on July 1, 2024, no open sources were found to suggest that Musab Abu ‘Anzah was a militant. As such, Musab Abu ‘Anzah 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 April 15, 2026, a Telegram account affiliated with Hamas’ armed wing, Al-Qessam Brigades, published a tribute to Musab Abu ‘Anzah, identifying him as a “commander”. As such, Airwars updated Musab Abu ‘Anzah’s status from civilian to militant, and changed the minimum number of civilians reportedly killed in this incident from four to three.
Relatives of the brothers Rasha and Rana Abu Taima attributed the strike to Israel in their posts about the incident.
Reporting their deaths and paying tribute to the brothers, Fathi Hamada Abu Nusaira, the husband of the victims’ sister, wrote in a post on Facebook “I have never considered you to be our in-laws. You were my brothers”.
Fathi Hamada Abu Nusaira and Yousef Abu Ghana’s posts included images of the four men from before the incident, and Abod Abu Rahaf posted a video on Facebook of a dust and smoke cloud rising over Abasan Al-Jadida following the alleged incident.
The names of the victims killed have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.
When sources identified a belligerent they all attributed the strike to Israeli forces.