At 11:17 p.m. on November 10, 2023, two members of the Abu Zubaidah family were killed and six members were injured after the Israeli military allegedly bombed the Zubaidah family home in the “Block 7” in Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip. A third member of the family was killed and has been identified as a militant.
According to the local media outlet Shehab Agency, four civilians were killed, while the Ministry of Interior in Gaza reported the number of civilian deaths as three. Other media sources, including Press Abeer Albanna, Al Shareq llakhbar – Falsten, Ibrahem Elian, Qanat al Awda Al Fadayia, Wakalt Maan Al Ikhbaria, confirmed that fatalities occurred in “Block 7” of Al-Bureij camp following an Israeli airstrike, though they did not specify the number of casualties.
Numerous Facebook users reported heavy bombardments in Block 7 of Al-Bureij camp, stating that the house of Abu Iyad Abu Zubaydah was targeted.
In a Facebook post, Khamis Hussin reported that the incident occurred at 11:17 p.m., resulting in the deaths of three individuals, members of one family: 18-year-old Ahmed Yaseen Iyad Ahmed Abu Zubaidah (a militant), his sisters, 21-year-old Janat Ayad Ahmed Abu Zubaidah and 24-year-old Rawan Ayad Abu Zubaidah, as well as Rawan’s unborn child, who were all grandchildren of Abu Iyad Abu Zubaidah.
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, names are matched to the second “Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza”, which was released on January 7, 2025.
According to a Facebook user named Israa Ramlawi and several photos shared on the platform, Rawan had a twin sister, Rawena Iyad Abo Zubaidah, who had been injured in the strike. Rawan was a nurse and was pregnant with her first child, while Janat was preparing to become a teaching assistant at the College of Information Technology. Israa Ramlawi shared a lovely memory of the two twins and their sister Janat, whom she had known for four years: “Rawena and Rowa, the wonderful and beautiful twins, the top of the department and teaching assistants in the College of Information Technology.”
The other civilians injured are the grandfather, Ahmed Abo Zubaidah; Ahmed’s sons, Iyad Ahmed Abo Zubaidah and Abed Ahmed Abo Zubaidah; Ahmed’s daughter-in-law, Iyad’s wife; Ahmed’s granddaughters, and Rewaa Iyad Abo Zubaidah.
Zakia Awed and Sayed Salem shared the photos of the deceased siblings on Facebook. Ahmed is seen as a young man dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans; he is sitting on a cane chair outdoors and smiling at a camera. One of his sisters is seen standing, wearing a purple embroidered dress and a purple hijab. Another sister is seen wearing a black dress, a turquoise jacket, and a black hat. An image of Rwan showed her wearing a medical uniform.
Ahmed Iyad Abu Zubaydah’s Facebook profile indicated that he was studying Design and Programming of Mobile Applications at the College of Applied Sciences. According to Zakia Awed’s Facebook post, Ahmed was also a memorizer and a reciter of the Holy Quran and the muezzin of a local mosque.
When Airwars first published this incident, no open sources were found to suggest that Ahmed Yaseen Iyad Ahmed Abu Zubaidah was a militant. As such, he 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.
A Telegram account affiliated with Hamas' armed wing, Al-Qessam Brigades, published a tribute to Ahmed Yaseen Iyad Ahmed Abu Zubaidah, identifying him as a fighter. As such, Airwars updated Ahmed Yaseen Iyad Ahmed Abu Zubaidah's status from civilian to militant and changed the minimum number of civilians reportedly killed in this incident from three to two.
Where sources identified the perpetrator, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military.