Shortly before 7:34pm on Tuesday, October 24th 2023, an alleged Israeli airstrike hit the home of Dr. Kamal Khattab, the director of Al-Durrah Children’s Hospital in the Gaza Strip and a former director of Al-Aqsa Hospital, located in Deir al-Balah, reportedly killing at least seven members of his family, including at least four children and three women, and seriously injuring the doctor himself and dozens of others. An member of the family was killed and has been identified as a militant.
On the day of the incident, the Palestinian news agency Safa reported that “at least five” people have been injured or killed in a bombing on the of the Khattab family house in Deir Al-Balah in the Central Governorate of the Gaza Strip. A little later, the same outlet further detailed that the bombing allegedly killed Kammal Khattab’s wife, his two daughters and his young son.
On October 25th, Galal Alhaddad reported in a post to Facebook that “dozens of injured people, including children, arrived at Al-Asqa Matrys Hospital after an Israeli bombing of the Khattab family home in Deir Al-Balah”. Included in the post are images of heavily injured children of all ages being carried into the hospital as well as children being treated inside the hospital. One of the pictures showed a young boy with his face covered with blood from a head injury. Several wounded women heading to the hospital could be also seen.
Eslam Khattab announced in a post on Facebook the deaths of Dr. Khattab’s wife, 54-year-old Laila Shihdah Muhammad Shehdeh Khattab (Umm Tariq), their son, a 14-year-old Abdul Rahman Kamal Awad Khattab, their 22-year-old daughter Mahasen Kamal Awad Khattab and their 26-year-old daughter Roua Kamal Awad Khattab. In one of the images shared on Facebook, a young Abdul Rahman is seen in a soccer uniform with a ball in his hands.
In a post on Facebook, Samira Saleh Nasser, mother of Mahasen’s husband Abdul Rahman, posted to announce the death of her daughter-in-law Mahasen Kamal Khattab. Samira also informs that Mahasen was pregnant at the time of the bombardment, describing their loss. The post also detailed that Samira’s first grandchild, the daughter of Mahasen and Abdul, Kenzi Abdul Rahman Al-Daya, was missing – there is no further information as to whether she was killed or injured.
Najat Fouad, a childhood friend of the late Roua and a niece of Umm Tariq, wrote a Facebook tribute to her friend and her aunt and shared an image of six dead bodies wrapped in cloth with a crowd of mourners paying their respects. The caption was dedicated to Umm Tariq, Roua and Mahasen. She also wished a speedy recovery to Dr. Kamal Khattab.
Belal S Abuhaddaf posted to Facebook to announce the death of another family in this incident, his uncle 35-year-old Ibrahim Muhammed Abu Hadaf (a militant) alongside his wife (Roua Kamal Awad Khattab), their son 4-year-old Muhammed Ibrahim Muhammed Abu Haddaf and their daughter, sharing an image of Ibrahim, a young bearded man in a suit. An account named I Live For You, also announced the same news and shared the same image to Facebook, as well as the account Al-Qarara’s Pulse, both onto Facebook.
When Airwars first published this incident, no open sources were found to suggest that Ibrahim Muhammed Abu Hadaf was a militant. As such, Ibrahim Muhammed Abu Hadaf 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 August 5, 2026, a Telegram account affiliated with Hamas’ armed wing, Al-Qessam Brigades, published a tribute to Ibrahim Muhammed Abu Hadaf, identifying him as a fighter. As such, Airwars updated Ibrahim Muhammed Abu Hadaf’s status from civilian to militant and changed the minimum number of civilians reportedly killed in this incident from eight to seven.
In a further post to Facebook, Samira Saleh Nasser announced the death of her grandchild, 1-year-old Kenzi Abdel Rahman Al-Daya, who was previously missing following the incident. She added that Kenzi was one year and one month old at the time of her death. Samira shared a highly distressing image of burnt out human remains, alleging that this was her granddaughter Kenzi. Other people shared the same image to Facebook, too, alleging that this was Kenzi Abdel Rahman Al-Daya.
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 belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.