On November 9, 2023, an alleged Israeli airstrike struck the Hijazi family home near the Zaarab roundabout, west of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The residential building which housed the extended Hijazi family was destroyed in the strike. Initial reports indicated a large number of civilian casualties, with subsequent family and community reporting confirming that at least 33 civilians were killed and dozens of others, including children, were injured.
The first public reports appeared on X, where @ShehabAgency stated that an Israeli strike on a family home west of Rafah had killed 21 people, citing local sources. Shortly afterward, regional broadcasters and radio stations, including Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, Palestine TV, Youth Voice Radio, and Voice of Palestine Radio, reported higher casualty figures ranging from 22 to 25 killed, while noting that rescue operations were ongoing and that additional victims were believed to be trapped under the rubble. The highest death toll was provided by journalist Adel Zaarab who reported that 31 of his neighbors and members of the same family were killed. Alami News put the tragedy into perspective, stating that the Hijazi family had been erased from the civil registry and that 15 of those killed had been children.
On Facebook, multiple relatives and community figures posted detailed casualty lists. Fadel Barika, Adel Zourob, Maysaa Om Mohamed, and Adli Abu Taha each published near-identical lists naming members of the Hijazi family and related households killed in the strike. These lists were repeatedly shared and referenced by other users and together identified 33 named victims, spanning several nuclear families who had been sheltering in the same residence.
Additional Facebook posts provided individual confirmations and family relationships. Faten Mohamed confirmed the deaths of her relatives – 58-year-old Professor Mufid Abdullah Awda Hijazi, his 50-year-old wife Ghaliya Hussein Turki Hijazi (Umm Hamza), and their son, 12-year-old Ramez Mufid Abdullah Hijazi. According to family member Al-Qahtani Alaa, Mufid and Ghaliya were preceded in death by sons Hamza and Abdullah.
Mari Bashir confirmed the deaths of his wife’s aunt, 55-year-old Wesal Mohammed Ismail Farhat (Umm Jihad), and her daughter, 30-year-old Maysaa Hijazi, describing Wesal as a “cheerful, joyful and kind person” and including an image of Wesal, a middle-aged woman pictured in traditional Palestinian embroidery.
Al-Qahtani Alaa mourned the loss of his dear aunt Umm Abdullah (name unknown), her beloved husband, 56-year-old Sobhi Abdullah Hijazi (Abu Abdullah), their kind son, 30-year-old Abdullah Sobhi Abdullah Hijazi, their daughter, 26-year-old Dr. Aya Sobhi Abdullah Hijazi, and their other daughter, 22-year-old Dr. Amal Sobhi Abdullah Hijazi. Professor Ahmed Al-Karnaz – Physics for High School Students posted on Facebook mourning one of his outstanding students from 2019, Dr. Amal, and included a screenshot of a post he made in 2019 congratulating Amal for scoring 98.7% on science, and Amal commented saying “Truly, you are one of the most important people who supported me.” Both Amal and Aya have been counted as medical doctors until further clarification is found.
Abdullah Sobhi’s three children: two daughters, six-year-old Najwa Abdullah Sobhi Hijazi and five-year-old Fatima Abdullah Sobhi Hijazi, and a son, three-year-old Sobhi Abdullah Sobhi Hijazi, were among those killed. Journalist Adel Zaarab posted an image of young Najwa on Facebook. She can be seen wearing a matching dress with another young girl, likely her sister, and posing for the camera with a colorful headband. Adel Zaarab also posted an image of Fatima, pictured in a bright pink dress, holding a sign that says “Welcome to Kindergarten.”
40-year-old Ammar Yousef Abdullah Hijazi was remembered as a “polite young man with a kind heart and good manners” by his friend Murab Zourob, who included an image of Ammar in a blue polo shirt.
A post from Firas Nidal Dahliz mourned the lives of their three little cousins – six-year-old Rimas Ahmed Mahmoud Dahliz, eight-year-old Rital Ahmed Mahmoud Dahliz, and 10-year-old Salma Mohammed Salem Hijazi – and their uncle’s sister, 56-year-old Haniya Awda Salim Hijazi.
39-year-old Yasser Fayeq Suleiman Tabasi (Abu Muhammad) was memorialized by his dear friend Diab Aswad who described him as a “good natured and moral man”, and included an image of him in a white shirt talking on his cellphone. Hussein Tubasi (Tabasi) posted about the death of his cousin Yasser and his other cousin 36-year-old Khaled Ahmed Tabasi.
Eng Abedelkareem Zourob mourned his cousin, the “hero” 27-year-old Omar Khaled Mohammed Zaarab, and included an image of him, a young man pictured taking a selfie in the street.
Additional victims named as killed in the Hijazi family home bombing among local sources include 51-year-old woman Tahani Hussein Hijazi Hijazi, 58-year-old Khaled Hijazi Awda Hijazi (Abu Alaa), his nephew 21-year-old Khaled Fadl Hijazi Hijazi, 49-year-old Najwa Mahmoud Khalil Hijazi, 66-year-old Rasmiya Awda Hijazi, 29-year-old Mahmoud Naji Hijazi, Wissam Hamad Hijazi (age unknown), 21-year-old Hussein Osama Hijazi, four-year-old Bisan Hamad Hijazi, 26-year-old Ne’ma Hassan Ahmed Hijazi, 30-year-old Wael Kamal Hussein Hijazi and Mohammed Youssef Abdullah Hijazi (age unknown).
Where possible, the names of the victims have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which include national ID numbers. Since October 26, 2023, the MoH has released a number of lists, along with an additional list of medical professionals, which was released on September 17, 2024. Airwars is matching individuals to the first list where their name appeared. In regard to this incident, the names of the victims are matched to the second “Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza”, which was released on January 7, 2024.
Several posts referenced the transfer of bodies to hospitals in Rafah and the receipt of victims by medical staff, while others shared condolence notices and funeral announcements. The bodies of at least 12 victims, covered in blankets and plastic, can be seen in images posted by Fadi Hijazi.
While none of the sources specified how many had been wounded, reporting by Aljazeera and others mentioned “dozens”. Palestinian Refugee Portal posted graphic images of at least five different children covered in blood receiving medical treatment for injuries in a hospital, with the caption identifying them as children who had been injured in the bombing of the Hijazi family home in Rafah. Additional images posted by the Kuwait Hospital showed another boy, a baby and a young man being treated for injuries.
Video footage shared by Palestine TV and Al Arabiya, and later reposted across social media platforms, showed the collapsed residential building and Palestinian Civil Defense teams searching through the rubble following the strike.
Images published by Mahdy Zourub (Zaarab) and Al Jazeera show the funeral for members of the Hijazi family, with a post from Diwan Al Zaarab specifying that they were buried in the old Zaarab cemetery on the Egyptian-Palestinian border
Where belligerents were identified, all sources attributed the strike to Israeli forces. According to the website Genocide in Gaza, the strike happened without prior warning.