Shortly before 7:06 AM on Monday, October 23rd 2023, five members of the Abu Daqqa family were killed and a number of civilians were injured in an alleged Israeli airstrike on their home in Abasan al-Kabira, in the Gaza Strip. The names of the family members were 63-year-old Faisal Hassan Abu Daqqa, 43-year-old Shehada Faisal Abu Daqqa, 36-year-old Khaled Sharif Abu Daqqa, 38-year-old Husam Ahmad Muhammad Abu Daqa and Alaa Sharif Abu Daqqa. One source reported that Shehada’s wife, whose name was not given, was seriously injured as well. A sixth family member was killed and has been identified as a militant.
When Airwars first published this incident, no open sources were found to suggest that 30-year-old Saqr Faisal Abu Daqqa was a militant. As such, Saqr 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 September 15, 2026, a Telegram account affiliated with Hamas' armed wing, Al-Qessam Brigades, published a tribute to Saqr, identifying him as a fighter. As such, Airwars updated Saqr's status from civilian to militant and changed the minimum number of civilians reportedly killed in this incident from six to five.
That day, multiple Twitter/X accounts, including @ShehabAgency and @AthabatNetwork, announced: “4 martyrs when occupation aircraft bombed a house for the Abu Daqqa family in Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Yunis.”
The same day, Facebook user Maysa Yahya Abo Daga shared a video with the caption “[“Israeli forces] killed my entire family …[”] A message in English from a member of the Abu Daqqa family that has said goodbye to more than 15 martyrs since the battle of Toofan Al-Aqsa.” In this clip, a crowd is gathered around an ambulance and at the center, a man passionately speaks into a camera in English, explaining “All my family – father, mother, brothers – …all died…Abu Daqqa family.”
Videos taken in front of the Nasser Hospital Morgue in Khan Younis show people, including healthcare workers and mourners, gathered in front of a line of white body bags and subsequently loading the bodies into a vehicle. One of the videos, posted on Facebook by Mariam Abu Dagga, features a caption that says, “The sons of the Abu Daqqa family, may God have mercy on them ?.” Another video posted to Facebook by user al-kabira abasan includes a caption saying, “Moons from the Abu Daqqa family.”
Others on social media honoured those killed by sharing photos of the men when they were alive. For example, on Facebook, Alshrqea.shaml and Abssan.alkabira posted a collage of the four men, with one of them smiling in front of a blossoming tree and another shown holding two happy children. Facebook user Meera Nabil also shared photos of the victims from when they were still living and wrote, “The moons of the Capricorn family that rose today ?? ? Oh God, have mercy on them, forgive them and accept them among the martyrs, O Lord…To the heavens of eternity ??.”
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
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.