On Thursday, October 26th 2023, at least eight civilians were killed and more than 25 civilians were injured, including children, when an alleged Israeli airstrike hit the Al-Atawneh family house located in the refugee camp in Nuseirat, Gaza Strip. The victims were members of the Al-Atawneh and Al-Bahtiti families and included at least three children. A ninth person was killed and has been identified as a militant.
Initially, Shehab Agency and Nabd News reported one casualty and a number of wounded, but the X/Twitter account @awdaps later reported that the Al Awda Hospital in Nuseirat had received five killed civilians and 25 wounded as a result of the alleged strike. According to the same account, three of the wounded patients were then transferred to Al-Aqsa Hospital. Later Safa News reported about more than 25 injured.
The post by @awdaps included photos of seven civilians, among them at least five children and one infant, receiving treatment for their wounds. Photos of three other civilians who appeared to be critically injured were posted on the Facebook account Hichambechketoficiel. According to this source, these individuals were wounded in the same alleged airstrike.
Nine victims were named and identified as killed.
The victims were identified in several social media posts by friends and family. 81-year-old Ramadan Issa Omar Al-Bahtiti was killed along with his two sons, 38-year-old Naji Ramadan Issa Al-Bahtiti and Mahdi Ramadan Al-Bahtiti, as well as his two grandchildren, 15-year-old Khalil Mahdi Ramadan Al-Bahtiti – Mahdi’s son – and Baraa Majid Al-Bahtiti.
Mahmoud Al-Mashharawi shared a photo of Khalil Mahdi Ramadan Al-Bahtiti, along with a mourning message: “Sincere condolences to our honorable family and neighbors, the Al-Bahtiti family, on the martyrdom of Hajj Abu Majid Al-Bahtiti, his son Naji, Mahdi, and others of his grandchildren”.
Members of the Al-Atawneh family were also killed when their house was hit in the alleged strike, Muhammad Atta Al-Atawneh was killed alongside his nephew, 26-year-old Muhammad Ahmed Atta Al-Atawneh (a militant). Two of Muhammad Ahmed’s nephews were also killed, nine-year-old boy, Adam Arafat Talal Abu Atiwi and a girl named Celine Arafat Talal Abu Atiwi, who was only seven years old.
In a mourning social media post, Ibrahim Atawneh, Muhammad Ahmed Al-Atawneh’s brother, wrote: “Our entire house was bombed, including children, the elderly, men and women… I condole myself and my family with their martyrdom…” In the same post, he mentioned that several other members of his family were wounded: “My mother, my sisters, and the rest were moderately and critically injured. My big brother: Atta Al-Atawneh, his wife and children were injured”.
Akram Qashlan, Muhammad Ahmed Atta Al-Atawneh’s father-in-law, also posted a farewell message on his Facebook account: “My daughter’s husband is a martyr, and we do not regard God as anyone Muhammad Al-Atawneh (Hamada) To the gardens of eternity, God willing”. The post included a selfie of Muhammad Ahmed holding a baby. According to a Facebook post by Muhammad Abu Al-Adnan, Muhammed Ahmed was a “beloved neighbor” and a “polite young man”, who was killed when their house was hit without warning.
The user Rana Fathi Gharqoud posted a picture of the children Adam Arafat Talal Abu Atiwi and Celine Arafat Talal Abu Atiwi. She mentioned that she spoke to Adam the day of the alleged airstrike: “On the same day, Adam came to me and told me that he longed for Damascus and for the embrace of Damascus, a strong embrace”. Her message concluded with a touching statement: “We are literally exhausted”.
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, 2023.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
Note on militancy
When Airwars first published this incident, no open sources were found to suggest that Muhammad Ahmed Atta Al-Atawneh was a militant. As such, Muhammad Ahmed 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 October 18, 2026, a Telegram account affiliated with Hamas' armed wing, Al-Qessam Brigades, published a tribute to Az Al-Din Ashraf Abu Shamala, a fighter. Timestamp 3:19 showed two men, with the caption "With the martyr, the Qassam fighter, Muhammad al-Atawna, during the martyr's participation in the Battle of the Al-Aqsa Flood." An Instagram post from aqmaralnusayrat provided additional context, showing Muhammad Ahmed wielding a weapon. As such, Airwars updated Muhammad Ahmed's status from civilian to militant and changed the minimum number of civilians reportedly killed in this incident from nine to eight.