On October 25th 2023, between 10 and 13 civilians, including at least three children, were killed and between 25 and 36 others were injured in an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Al-Kahlot family home in Jabalia camp. An identified as a militant was also killed. The home was located in the center of Jabalia camp near the Martyrs’ Roundabout/Al-Qimma area in the northern Gaza Strip.
According to an early morning report from the Palestinian news agency, Safa, the Minister of Interior stated, “At least 13 martyrs and more than 35 injured as a result of the occupation aircraft bombing a house for the ‘Al-Kahlot’ family in Jabalia camp.” Later, users across social media shared the names of the identified civilians among those who were killed.
A Facebook post by a family member named Mahmoud Faraj Abu Safiyye detailed ten of the names of those killed. Muhammad Khalil Abu Safiya was killed alongside two of his daughters, 12-year-old Farah Muhammad Khalil Abu Safiya and 16-year-old Islam Muhammad Khalil Abu Safiya. 29-year-old ‘Alaa Khalil Ibrahim Abu Safiya (a militant) was killed alongside his sisters, 38-year-old Sana Khalil Ibrahim Abu Safiya and 27-year-old Hanadi Khalil Ibrahim Abu Safiya. Another family member named Alaa Khalil Abu Safiya was killed in the incident, as was her son. A female family member named Ibtisam Ibrahim Abu Safiya was also killed as well as a set of brothers called Muhammad Jabr Abu Safiya and Ahmed Jabr Abu Safiya.
A video shared by Al Jazeera Egypt reported the strike on the Kahlout family home and showed multiple injured civilians, mostly children, being taken into the hospital with wounds on their limbs and faces, in distress, with medical staff trying to attend to their injuries. Another photo shared by @padfoxx on Twitter showcases the remnants of the building and the surrounding rubble.
A Facebook post from Aziz Kahlout clarified that there were no deaths from the ‘Al-Kahlot’ family in the bombing but “what was targeted were our neighbors from the Abu Safiya, Salman and Al-Najjar families. They were damaged because they are adjacent to the two houses and the surroundings around them were damaged”. Journalist Hossam Abu Khater reported on “more than 13 martyrs and 25 injuries” while Safa quantified “at least 13 martyrs and more than 35 injured” from the bombing.
Alongside an image showing the scale of the destruction, @padfox, possibly a resident of the area where the incident occurred, described their distress at the scene. The post on Twitter/X stated, “Me and my family are fleeing from one massacre to another… Oh Lord, how many times have we moved in this war, from one neighborhood to another and from one area to another, each refuge ending with a nearby explosion, shrapnel, then the smell of blood, then we move to another house and so on… Every inch of Gaza is targeted.”
Tributes to the young men Alaa Abu Safia, Ahmed Jabr Abu Safiya and Muhammad Jabr Abu Safiya were posted by childhood friends and loved ones on social media. Ahmed Salem spoke about the death of his cousins, stating, “Congratulations to you on this great honor, my cousins ((Muhammad Jabr Abu Safiya)) ((Ahmed Jabr Abu Safiya)). May God give you patience, aunt. May God have mercy on our honorable martyrs and may God heal our brave wounds.” While Mohammad Ayes shared a picture of a smiling Alaa Abu Safia, expressing his sadness: “We were waiting to rejoice at your wedding, but you chose heaven over this mortal world.” Other Facebook posts by Ranoosha Mohamed and Alaa Alaa continued to express their condolences and sadness for the loss of Muhammad and Ahmed Abu Safiya.
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.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to Israeli forces.