Ten members of the Abu Nasira family – including three men, three women, three children, and an infant girl – were reportedly killed on Tuesday, October 24th 2023 in an alleged Israeli strike which hit their family home in Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Press Agency Safa initially reported that six people had been killed, with several missing people trapped beneath the rubble of the house. The number of people identified to have been killed rose to ten as the search for missing people progressed. The minimum number of people killed has therefore been recorded as ten.
Dr Yamen Jamal al-Astal, writing on Facebook, explained how Civil Defence Forces searching through the rubble had to pause their search on the evening of October 24th before all of those killed had been found, and return in the morning.
Those named by family and friends on social media to have been killed in the strike came from three generations of the Abu Nasira family. 51-year-old Adel Muhammad Abdel Karim Abu Nasira was killed alongside his sister 56-year-old Amal Muhammad Abdel Karim Abu Nasira and her husband, likely 66-year-old Khalil Musa Abdel Karim Abu Nasira. Amal Muhammad Abu Nasira and her husband were grandparents.
Amal and Khalil’s daughter 29-year-old Ghada Khalil Musa Abu Nasira and their son 38-year-old Musa Khalil Musa Abu Nasira were also killed. Musa’s wife 30-year-old Ghadeer Yusuf Ata Abu Nasira (Abu Libda) was also killed in the strike which destroyed the house. Their infant daughter Taqa Musa Khalil Abu Nasira was killed alongside their three sons, four-year-old Yahya Musa Khalil Abu Nasira, ten-year-old Malik Musa Khalil Abu Nasira, and six-year-old Omar Musa Khalil Abu Nasira.
Announcing the deaths on Facebook, several family members and friends offered tributes to those killed. Ashrif Samir announced the death of his “beloved” brother Adel Muhammad Abu Nasira, adding “We ask you to pray.”
Amany Najjar wrote, “May God have mercy on you, Ghadeer [Abu Nasira], and have mercy on your husband, Musa Abu Malik [Musa Khalil Abu Nasira], and your children [Taqa, Yahya, Malik, and Omar].”
Several family members, including Bilal Abu Nasira, posted an image on Facebook showing the bodies of seven of those killed wrapped in white shrouds. The journalist Tareq Abu Ishaq also posted a video depicting mourners carrying the shrouded body of Adel Muhammad Abu Nasira through the street.
Meanwhile, Abu Rami Abu Nasira posted an image and two videos on Facebook showing the scene of the strike some time after it had occurred. The images demonstrate that the strike reduced the Abu Nasira family home entirely to rubble. One image shows a sandy crater where the home once stood.
The names of all identified victims have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of nearly 7000 victims’ names and ID numbers released on October 26th.
Amal’s husband was not named by open sources but has been deduced from the MoH list using the names of his children.
Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to Israeli forces.