On Saturday, October 21st, 2023, an alleged Israeli airstrike hit the Abu Shamala family home located in the Tal Al Sultan neighborhood, western Rafah, the Gaza Strip, reportedly killing fifteen civilians spanning two generations, and wounding others, according to multiple sources.
Among those killed were 28-year old Naderen Bashir Abu Shamala, who was pregnant at the time of her death, and her two children, 4-year old Adam Abu Shamala and 8-year old Sham Abu Shamala. 26-year old Sharifa Ghaleb Muhammad al-Haj Ahmed Abu Shamala was killed along with her two children, 5-year old Hadi Salah al-Dih Abu Shamala and 3-year old Aisha Salah al-Din Abu Shamala. 37-year old Haifa Saeed Dawaba Abu Shamala was killed together with her three children, 10-year old Abboud (Abdul Hadi) Majed Abu Shamala, 14-year old Shahad Majed Abu Shamala, and 3-year old Dalal Majed Abu Shamala. In addition, 51-year old Basemah Abdel Rahim Abu Shamala, 17-year old Bayan Munir Abdel Rahman Abu Shamala, 78-year old Khalil al-Abdullah Shaheen, 58-year old Ahmed Jamil Abu Mahdi, and 7-year old Mennata Allah Abdullah Sharab were also killed in the deadly strike.
Condolence messages and tributes to the victims were posted by various acquaintances and relatives. Among them were Sharifa’s friend, Inas Amro, along with Ayman Dibaa and Munther Bardawil, Ahmed Jamil’s “dear” nephews. Also mourning their losses were Nidal Al Badrasawi, Sharifa’s brother; Fadi Albdrsawi, Naderen’s sister; and Qasim Abu Shamalah, Naderen’s brother-in-law. Additionally, Ahmed S Shurrab, Mennata’s cousin, and Haifa’s brother, Dr. Ahmed Said Dawaba, also expressed their condolences, with Ahmed sharing a photo of Mennata, proudly holding a certificate from her school. Dr. Dawaba fondly referred to Haifa as his “beautiful little sister,” praising his niece Shahad as “wonderful” and his nephew Abboud as “brilliant.” Sharifa’s brother-in-law, Haitham Said, mourned his niece Aisha, describing her as a “beautiful, elegant girl.”
On Twitter/X, user @Mmt90_ shared a video documenting the extent of the destruction caused by the bombardment, while user @Yara_alnamlat’s tweet featured graphic footage of a child arriving at al-Kuwaiti Hospital. The child’s body was described as shattered into “body parts”. On Facebook, journalist Faras Abu Sharkh posted photos he captured of wounded civilians receiving medical assistance, and Em Alamir
Shammala shared a poignant picture of doctors tending to a baby who survived while their pregnant mother, likely Naderen, was killed. Ayman Abu Shamala has told Agence France-Presse that his wife, Darine Ayman Abu Shamala, who was pregnant at the time, fell from the third floor when the building in which they were staying was hit by three missiles during the Israeli raid. Both of their children, Sham Ayman Abu Shamala and Adam Ayman Abu Shamala died along with her. After she’d died doctors in a Gaza Strip hospital were able to perform an emergency caesarean section and save her unborn child. The newborn, who was named Makkah, at her mother’s request, was undergoing medical care in a hospital in Rafah for several days. Joseph Shenekji, in his Facebook post, shared an image of Ayman Abu Shamala standing next to his newborn daughter.
@qudsn, @ajmubasher, Alarabiya.Palestine, and Radiu Ealm’s press coverages on both platforms included pictures depicting “surviving children in a state of shock after the attack,” and several videos showing distressed relatives and acquaintances of the Abu Shamala family bidding farewell to the dead. No further details were available regarding the identity of the remaining victims or their current conditions. Though the number of injured was not made explicit, photos included show three wounded civilians.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
Airwars was able to match all of the victims’ names with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.