On November 11, 2023, three civilians, including three children, were reported killed in an alleged Israeli attack on the al-Rantisi family home located in al-Shaboura camp in Rafah. A further three civilians from the same family were reported to have been injured. A fourth member of the family was killed and has been identified as a militant.
The victims were identified as three siblings: ten-year-old Ashraf Shawkat Mahmoud al-Rantisi, four-year-old Muhammad Shawkat Mahmoud al-Rantisi, and eight-month-old Adam Shawkat Mahmoud al-Rantisi were killed. Their siblings, Ayman Shawkat Mahmoud al-Rantisi, Ayoub Shawkat Mahmoud al-Rantisi, the father Shawkat Mahmoud al-Rantisi, and the mother Umm Ayman were injured in the bombing.
Another sibling, 27-year-old Abdullah Mahmoud Khamis al-Rantisi was also killed and has been identified as a militant.
When Airwars first published this incident, no open sources were found to suggest that Abdullah Mahmoud Khamis al-Rantisi was a militant. As such, Abdullah Mahmoud Khamis al-Rantisi 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 April 19, 2026, a Telegram account affiliated with Hamas' armed wing, Al-Qessam Brigades, published a tribute to Abdullah Mahmoud Khamis al-Rantisi, identifying him as a fighter. As such, Airwars updated Abdullah Mahmoud Khamis al-Rantisi's status from civilian to militant and changed the minimum number of civilians reportedly killed in this incident from four to three.
Several social media uses shared updates of those killed or injured in the bombing of the al-Rantisi home in Al-Shaboura camp in Rafah. Urgent calls by users such as Hani Alshaer reported that a “number of people” were killed, alongside others who were injured or missing. Sources, like News Now on Facebook, confirmed that four people were killed as a result of the bombing.
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.
Al Jazeera posted a video of those injured or killed in the bombing arriving via ambulance at the hospital. Bodies covered in blankets were carried out on stretchers before being rushed to the hospital to receive treatment. One person is shown limp and covered in ash as doctors move them onto a gurney.
Journalist Adel Zaarab shared a photo of three civilians who were killed in the attack. They are covered in white cloth, laid on stretchers at the Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah. Other photos shared showed paramedics and doctors rushing people on stretchers into the hospital.
Nesreen Hedger Bentaghd shared a photo of the al-Rantisi house after the bombing on Facebook. The photo showed rubble lying inside and around an impact crater with several people milling around, including a journalist wearing a ‘press’ vest. Buildings surrounding the home are partially destroyed, with collapsed roofs and blown-through walls and windows.
Photos of the deceased were posted and shared by family and friends online. One photo shared by Ammar Saeed Abu Riash shows eight-month-old Adam and ten-year-old Ashraf embracing each other. Ashraf, a young boy with short, dark hair, is giving the camera a thumbs-up. He is wearing a black and red matching Gucci set as he holds up his baby brother, who is wearing a white one-piece.
In another photo, shared by Kareem Abu Sama al-Rayashi, the three siblings are shown together, alongside their other two brothers, Ayman and Ayoub. Muhammed is in the front of the photo, wearing a green and gray shirt with a cartoon dog on the front. Behind him, Adam, who is wearing a bear-print onesie, is being held by Ashraf, wearing a red hoodie. The three boys are survived by two siblings and their parents, Shawkat al-Rantisi and Umm Ayman, who were injured in the bombing. All of the siblings were children under the age of 10, judging from the image.
Many people took to social media to mourn Abdullah al-Rantisi, who was apparently the brother of Shawkat. Salah al-Rantisi posted a tribute to her cousin, alongside photos depicting a young man. In one photo, he is shown with short black hair and a chin-beard. He is wearing a zip-up gray fleece underneath a jacket as he smiles for the photo. In another photo, he is laughing and smiling. He is wearing a turquoise Adidas shirt. Even his neighbor, Hani Khodr, shared a photo of the young man, dressed in a white button-down underneath a suit jacket, describing him as “kind and well-mannered.”
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military.