Shortly before 11:54 PM on Sunday, 22 October 2023, at least 33 identified civilians, including seven women and at least 20 children, were killed and at least 10 others, including an infant, were injured in an alleged Israeli airstrike that struck the Al-Lidawi family home in the Al-Shuhada Al-Sittah area west of the Jabalia refugee camp in the North of Gaza. The airstrike killed multiple members of three families living in the home: Al-Lidawi, Musa, and Abu Salama families.
51-year-old Raed Youssef Abdullah Al-Lidawi was killed alongside his wife, 44-year-old Iman Ibrahim Naji Abdullah Al-Lidawi and their children: 16-year-old daughter Maryam Raed Al-Lidawi, 9-year-old son Fouad Raed Al-Lidawi and Ahmed Raed Al-Lidawi (age unknown).
In the Al-Lidawi family gathering’s post on Facebook, an announcement message read that: “The family member, Raed Youssef Al-Lidawi, his wife and children, were martyred in a treacherous bombing.” Fathi Ismail Al-Lidawi also added that: “May God have mercy on them and make them dwell in His spacious paradise.” Mohamed Jaber also shared a message for his friend Basil Raed Al-Lidawi (who based on his name is a sibling of Maryam, Fouad, and Ahmed) on “the martyrdom of all members of the family of my brother, friend, and love, Basil Raed Al-Lidawi. Only a few of them survived as their home was barbarically bombed without warning.” Islam Al-Lidawi shared that Raed was a “smiling, smiling, innocent, spontaneous, wounded man.
A story from Our Gaza described Raed as “known for his kindness, simple demeanor, and a penchant for jokes that he always used to make people laugh, Raed was deeply cherished by those around him. He co-owned Al-Manara Library in Gaza with his siblings, a highly esteemed and long-standing library for the inhabitants of Gaza, especially in the university area.” According to the Palestinian Information Center, Raed and Iman had just celebrated the arrival of their first grand-daughter.
Amani Al-Sharif posted a video to Facebook which put together clips from the rescue team driving to the airstrike site, digging up, and carrying out people from the rubble. In Amani’s message, they shared a heartfelt message saying: “they bombed the house of my friend, my sister, and my soul, Iman Ibrahim, Umm Muhammad Al-Lidawi. Why didn’t you stay with me, Iman? Why are you in such a hurry? I told you that we live together or we die together, stay with me. Our neighbors are our beloved ones.” They then listed the names of the 32 other people who were killed in the airstrike reminding people that: “they are not numbers who had a life they loved and loved one who tasted the bitterness and pain of losing them. May God bless my heart with the loss of my loves ones my dearest people, and your hearts.” Iman was also described as “kind hearted” by another cousin.
33-year-old Latifa Ghassan Ahmed Jabr Al-Lidawi, also married to Raed Al-Lidawi, was killed along with her children – Jana Raed Al-Lidawi, Mahmoud Raed Al-Lidawi, and seven-year-old Moatasem Raed Al-Lidawi. Latifa’s aunt, 30-year-old Asmaa Jabr and her husband, 39-year-old Nasser Hosni Salameh Musa were also killed in the airstrike. Umm Abdullah Othman’s Facebook post also informed that Asmaa and Nasser’s children, 12-year-old son Muhammad Nasser Hosni Musa, eight-year-old son Abdul Rahman Nasser Hosni Musa, 10-year-old son Youssef Nasser Hosni Musa, son Osama Nasser Hosni Musa, and four-year-old daughter Zeina Nasser Hosni Musa were all killed too.
Iman Al-Lidawi’s cousin, Osama Ibrahim Naji was also killed in the airstrike. Wisam Naji posted a message on Facebook recording that: “the martyrs of the Naji family bled to the gardens of eternity” and named Osama Ibrahim Naji and his seven-year-old son Suhaib Osama Ibrahim Naji as victims of the airstrike alongside Iman and Raed Al-Lidawi. Shatha Atallah referred to Suhaib Osama Naji as “the heroic” cub and shared a photo of him illustrating that he was around the age of 10-13 years old potentially as well as a photograph of his father smiling in a suit. Another condolence message described Osama Ibrahim Naji as “good-mannered” and wished that “God accept(s) you in the highest heavens and grant(s) you the highest gardens of paradise”.
Islam Al-Lidawi shared that “we were very saddened that the enemy bombed our authentic family home in Jabalia camp, completely destroying it and everyone who was in it. It has been bombed many times during previous wars, but we were rebuilding it and restoring it, so that it would retain its status and symbolism. Among us, as my ten brothers and sisters were born in it, we grew up in it, grew up and learned, and from it came the martyrs.” This illustrates the strong ties and sadness that came with the loss of such a family home.
Mahmoud Abu Salama announced the passing of the wife of his friend, cousin, and love, Khalil Abu Salama. His wife, 36-year-old Heba Hosni Musa (Abu Salama), and their three children – 12-year-old daughter Leen Khalil Abdul-Hai Abu Salama, 11-year-old son Jihad Khalil Abdul-Hai Abu Salama, and five-year-old daughter Sham Khalil Abdul-Hai Abu Salama were killed in the airstrike. A video from Al Jazeera Net shows Mahmoud Abu Salama discovering the bodies of his cousins from under the rubble in their home after the strike.
Numerous other civilians from the Musa family were also killed in the airstrike. 64-year-old Sameer Salameh Ali Musa was killed along with his son 34-year-old son Ayman Sameer Salameh Moussa, Ayman’s wife 29-year-old Abeer Hosni Salameh Musa, as well as their children – three daughters, including five-year-old Maria Ayman Sameer Musa, three-year-old Milana Ayman Sameer Musa, and one-year-old Masaa Ayman Musa, and their son Abu Ayman Sameer Musa were all also killed.
Furthermore, the siblings, five-year-old boy Muhammad Jawad Hosni Musa and eight-year-old girl Nemat Jawad Hosni Musa, were also killed in the deadly attack. Last but not least, 32-year-old woman Haneen Hosni Musa al-Basyouni (sister of Heba Hosni Musa) and 44-year-old woman Rana Khader Khalil Musa were also among the victims killed.
An unknown number of civilians were injured in the airstrike but some reports said at least 10 people were injured. Photographs and videos, including one by Shehab Agency, illustrated that a three-week old infant named Ahmed Musa was injured and being treated for a severe head wound. Another photo shows a woman being carried on a stretcher and another illustrates a young girl being carried out of the rubble by a Civil Defense crew member.
Photos indicate the strike took place at night as the rescue crews were operating with flashlights and in the dark.
In an image posted by Umm Abdullah Othman, children and a woman (age unknown) are seen wearing camouflage outfits with the Hamas logo on their headbands, while in another image posted by Shatha Atallah a child is seen holding a gun. However, there is no other evidence that any adults in the family were militant members of Hamas, therefore all named members of the family killed have been counted as civilians until additional information comes to light.
Incident ISPT0488 occurred at the same location and therefore may have overlapping images and videos.
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. Gaza Days reported that the Israeli military “bombed their house last night without warning.”