During the morning of Tuesday, October 25th 2023, a house for the Musa family in Al Maghazi camp, Gaza Strip, was allegedly bombed by the Israeli military, resulting in at least nine civilian deaths, including multiple children.
34-year-old Ahmed Jamal Hassan Musa was killed alongside his wife Asma Rizqa, his two sons, 6-year-old Muhammad Ahmed Jamal Musa, 1-year-old Youssef Ahmed Jamal Musa and his 4-year-old daughter Alma Ahmed Jamal Musa. Ahmed’s niece, 10-year-old Ghadi Mustafa Jamal Musa and her two brothers, ten-month-old Bahaa Mustafa Jamal Musa and 6-year-old Jamal Mustafa Jamal were also killed in the incident. Ahmed’s other niece, the daughter of his brother Hassan, Sila Hassan Jamal Musa (4) was also killed.
Family members and friends of the Musa family wrote tributes on social media where they described their grief.
Writing that he was “saddened by your separation,” family member Mohammed Mousa attached prayers for those he had lost, stating that “the eyes will shed tears and the heart will grieve.” Still, others comforted themselves with the belief that though their “hearts [were] squeezing in pain,” they had “soul[s] content with God’s will and destiny.”
A Facebook account for the Basma al-Maghazi Elementary School, which the children attended, posted that they had “hearts torn with pain and blood over [the children’s] separation.” Though they were “not related by blood,” they “had a relationship of love and affection.”
Muhammad Ahmed Musa was remembered as wise beyond his years: “his words must be heard when he was not more than 7 years old.” His sister, Alma, was remembered as “shy and beautiful,” and the infant Youssef was described as “always smiling.” Photos of the children, posing and smiling for the camera, were attached.
Extended family member Aseel Mousa, writing for the Telegraph, had been displaced to al-Maghazi, and was temporarily residing near his family. He emphasized that there was “no prior notice, no warning, and no discernible reason for this assault.”
The strike killed nine members of his family; all residents of the three-storey building. Hearing of the strike, Aseel rushed to the building, witnessing his father’s fear as he searched for family members. “I will never,” Aseel wrote, “forget the terror in my father’s eyes at that moment.”
The time of the strike remains unclear. While the Telegraph reported it occurred “at about 11:35 am,” Safa Press Service filed its initial report at 3:28.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.