On the afternoon of Sunday, 29 October 2023, at least seven members of the al-Helou family, including one woman, were reportedly killed when an Israeli airstrike allegedly struck their home near the Netzarim Junction in Al Mughraqa neighbourhood, south-west of Gaza City.
Four brothers, 48-year-old Hatem Mahmoud Shaaban al-Helou, 33-year-old Ammar Mahmoud al-Helou, 35-year-old Nidal Mahmoud al-Helou and Muhammad Mahmoud Shaaban Al-Helou were killed in the strike. Hatem was killed alongside his two sons, Mahmoud Hatem Mahmoud al-Helou and Moatasem Hatem Mahmoud al-Helou. Rasmiya al-Helou (Umm Hatem) was also killed, along with “their children” – it is possible she is the mother of Hatem and siblings.
A Facebook account named “Youth of the Helou Family” wrote that family members attempted to reach the home on Monday, the day after the attack, to try to recover those trapped under the rubble but that they were unable to as the area remained under intense bombardment and shelling from tanks. The same post added that the two brothers Hatem and Muhammad were buried in Deir Al Balah Cemetery.
The above Facebook account also reported that a number of women and children were trapped under the rubble, claiming that more than six members of the family were missing the day after the attack. Another Facebook post from Maher Al Hijazi reported that there were 10 “martyrs” under the rubble and five others dead at the time of writing. Photos shared via Twitter/X showed many people attempting to dig through the rubble of the collapsed home.
Multiple sources also reported that the family home was flooded at the time of the alleged airstrike.
The sources did not attribute the strike to any belligerent, but Airwars has matched the names of some of the civilians killed with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on July 24th, 2024, which explicitly mentions that names on the list are “victims of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip”. Additional sources also referred to the family home as being “targeted”, which would only be used in the context of Israeli actions, therefore this incident has been graded a “likely strike”.