At dawn on the 8th of November 2023, an alleged Israeli airstrike hit the Dhaher family house in Jabalia refugee camp, located in North Gaza, the Gaza strip, reportedly killing 13 civilians – 10 of whom have been identified. “A number” of others were reported injured. Two other people were killed and has been identified as militants.
Amongst them, 65-year-old Nawal Muhammad Dhaher (Umm Osama) was killed with her three sons – 22-year-old Mohammad Abdul Rahman Dhaher, 32-year-old Ahmed Abdul Rahman Dhaher, 30-year-old Mahmoud Abdul Rahman Dhaher – and her 42-year-old daughter Samia Abdul Rahman Dhaher. Nawal’s 29-year-old son-in-law, Suhaib Othman Karso’a (a militant), and one-year-old granddaughter, Sahar Muhand Dhaher were also killed. Within this family two more victims have been identified, 25-year-old Israa Sami Dhaher and 61-year-old Abed al-Bast Mohammed Dhaher.
20-year-old Suad Wissam Saeed Zaqout was identified as another victim of the incident, alongside her 22-year-old sister, Heba Wissam Saeed Zaqout. Suad, Heba, and Mohammad were reportedly neighbours of the Dhaher family.
29-year-old Mohammad Atta Jumaa al-Salibi was also killed and has been identified as a militant, a member of Hamas' Martyr Suhail Ziyada Battalion - Northern Brigade.
According to the sources reporting the airstrike, at the moment of the incident, nine civilians were killed, with an additional number of civilians wounded. The victims were transported to the Indonesian Hospital, and later on, the death toll rose to 15.
Additionally, family members and friends mourned the deaths of their loved ones on social media. Amale Dahler and Hyam Sha’alan mourned the death of their aunt Nawal, whom they described as “patient and steadfast,” as well as the passing of her children. Aisha Dhaher, Nawal’s cousin, added to the mourning messages, writing “There is no power or strength except with God. My cousin Nawal, Umm Osama, her children and grandchildren were martyred. May God have mercy on them and accept them as martyrs.” Hussin Rafat Dhaher, Nawal’s son, was restrained in his grief, writing simply of the “martyrdom of [my] mother.” Many relatives lauded her as a “Hajja,” indicating that she had completed the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.
Mohamed Oosy lamented the deaths in the Dhaher family, whom he called “martyrs,” stating that what had happened was “a massacre against his family.” Maryam Sha’alan made the same assertion, and added “To God we belong and to Him we shall return. God is sufficient for us, and He is the best Disposer of affairs”.
Needa Abed Al Hadi offered “condolences to myself and my family for the martyrdom of my dear uncle” Abed al-Bast Mohammed Dhaher, cousin Israa, and the wider Dhaher family, before praying that God “mend [their] broken hearts.” She included a photograph of a suited Abed striding in front of a car and mural. In another photo, he is close to the camera, wearing a grey checked shirt.
Khaled Waleed wrote in memory of his sister’s husband, Mohammad Atta Jumaa Al-Salibi, and shared a picture of him wearing a grey sweatshirt and dark pants. Awad Asker asked that God have “mercy” on him and “forgive [him] and admit [him] into His heavens.”
Several sources shared pictures of the moments right after the strike, including a photo showing five men inside the destroyed house, with the face of the man in the middle, who is wearing a blue T-shirt and dark trousers, covered in dust and blood. Another picture portrays a young boy covered in rubble laying on a stretcher while being attended by medics, who appear to be checking his pulse; or a third one, that shows a group of medics carrying a body on an orange stretcher from the top floor of the Dhaher house towards the ground floor.
Further pictures of the aftermath of the incident were shared by those reporting the incident, in which men can be seen inside the house looking through the rubble with flashlights. Some sources also shared a video of Hajj Abu Osama Dhaher, the husband of Nawal and father of Mohammad, Ahmed, Mahmoud and Samia. He can be seen in front of a line of bodies wrapped in white sheets desolated at the deaths of his family members.
The funeral for the 15 victims took place in the morning hours following the strike. Pictures posted by several sources show a large group of men praying around a truck, which has the corpses of victims wrapped in white sheets and blankets in its back.
All names were matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza; individuals listed in this assessment were matched to the third list.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military.