On Tuesday, March 18th, 2025, at dawn, Israeli aircraft reportedly struck the home of the Abu Tayr family in the town of Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. The attack allegedly killed at least nine civilians from the same family, spanning three generations, including a grandmother, her son and his wife, their two young daughters, and a daughter-in-law with her three children. Local media and family accounts stated that the residential building was destroyed, with four other relatives reported missing under the rubble. It is unknown whether these four survived.
Reports consistently described the incident as an Israeli airstrike on a residential house belonging to the Abu Tayr family. Gigaza reported the attack came “without prior warning” and said it was carried out by Israeli aircraft. Social media accounts (including Faten Mohammad and MsdrNews) listed nine relatives recovered from beneath the rubble and reported that four more remained under the collapsed building. MsdrNews. Others identified the home as that of Dr. Ayman Suleiman Abu Tayr, Head of the Nutrition Department at Nasser Hospital, who was not reported killed in the incident.
All of the deceased were members of the extended Abu Tayr family. 61-year-old Shawqiya Muhammad (Ali) Abu Tayr was killed with her 40-year-old son, Mohammad, and his 43-year-old wife, Asmaa Abdel Mohammed Abu Tayr (née al-Shouaf). The couple’s two daughters, 19-year-old Hoda Mohammad Abu Tayr and 17-year-old Amira Mohammad Abu Tayr, were also reported killed.
Shawqiya’s daughter-in-law, 32-year-old Fulla Abdel Karim Abu Tayr (née Asfour), was killed with her three children, 14-year-old Anas Ayman Abu Tayr and his two sisters, 13-year-old Jana and seven-year-old Lynn.
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 eighth and tenth Palestinian Ministry of Health Lists of Fatalities in Gaza, which were released on March 24, 2025, and on July 16, 2025, respectively.
Airwars researchers found a further name of a civilian who may have been killed in this incident in the records of the tenth Palestinian Ministry of Health Lists of Fatalities in Gaza. A 10-year-old boy, Mahir Mohammad Soleiman Abu Tayr, was reported as killed. While his middle and last names suggest that he is a brother of Hoda and Amira, it was not explicitly mentioned anywhere that he was killed in this strike. However, according to the sources, four members of the family were missing under the rubble at the time of the reporting.
As the information was not specific enough to allow Airwars to confidently link this name to this incident, it will not be included in the victims list, though this will be updated should more information emerge.
A censored video posted by Alarabiya Palestine appears to show people being pulled from debris and loaded into an ambulance, while photos on X by @Tufan_ALaqssa depicted the collapsed building with crowds gathered; another image showed bodies lying on the ground near al-Bushra Mosque in Abasan al-Kabira after the strike, with posts saying people were waiting for ambulances to reach the site.
Relatives and community members shared personal tributes. Um Ibrahim, mourning the Abu Tayr clan, shared a video of people hurriedly carrying shrouded bodies through crowded streets. Shawqiya Abu Tayr, she noted, was her aunt.
While Absan Alkabira asked that the family “find mercy and forgiveness,” the General Union of Palestinian Students in Malaysia also expressed condolences to their colleague, Dr. Ayman Suleiman Abu Tayr, noting that his mother, wife, children, brother, and nieces were among those killed, and the four missing under the rubble, his relatives. Saddam Asfour grieved for his uncle Abdul Karim Asfour’s daughter, Fulla Abdel Karim Abu Tayr, and her three children, killed in the strike. Jehad Asfour and Esam Samir both described Fulla as a cousin and daughter. A photo of four children posed together was circulated alongside condolences; it appears one of Fulla’s sons survived.
Nesma K. Abu Tayr mourned the death of Hajja Shawqiya Abu Tayr, her son Mohamed Suleiman Abu Tayr, his wife Asmaa Abdel Abu Tayr, their children, and Ayman’s wife and children, writing that “they have gone to the highest heavens.” Àł SĦằŵāf Ħằmzằ wrote that among those killed were his uncle’s wife, Hajja Shawqiya Abu Tayr, who “joined my uncle, Dr. Suleiman Abu Tayr,” as well as his sister Asmaa Al-Shawaf, her husband, Mohamed Suleiman Abu Tayr and their children, and the wife of his cousin Dr. Ayman Abu Tayr, and his children.
Khaled Abu Tayr shared a tribute to his brother Mohammed, posting a photo of him and recalling his life as one of “patience and determination.” He described how his brother worked in both farming and the iron trade, supporting his family and employing young men in the trade, whom he treated “as a father and brother.” He also highlighted his brother’s integrity while working at the Rafah crossing, where he resisted bribes from drug smugglers and chose “honor over wealth, and integrity over betrayal.” Khaled recalled that his brother often said: “Either we live with dignity, or we die with honor.” He concluded by writing that his brother “departed with dignity, leaving behind a legacy of values and principles that will remain with us forever.”
Khaled Abu Tayr also mourned his mother, sharing a photo of her, whom he described as “the Lady of the Qur’an who ascended as a martyr.” In his post, he recalled her as a religious teacher who memorised the Qur’an, led lessons for women and girls, and inspired others with her faith and patience during illness. He wrote that she continued to teach despite years of sickness, guiding “the rich and the poor, the educated and the illiterate” with lessons in Qur’an and the “biography of the Prophet.” Khaled noted that she was killed during Ramadan.
In another post, Khaled Abu Tayr shared photos of several family members killed in the strike, including men, women and children. He listed by name those he had lost, writing: “You took from me my father, who was my friend, and my mother, my soul and my support. You took my brother, Mohamed Suleiman Abu Tayr, my support, and Asmaa and Fulla, and […] Muhammad, Hoda, and […] Ayman, Anas, Jana, and my little darling, Lynn,” and wrote that their deaths had taken from him his laughter and his “passion for life.”
A post from Nabd Alsharqiya shared a video showing the funeral of members of the Aqmar branch of the Abu Tayr family. Eman R Tair also included a video of mourners: some dazed, others crying, all surrounding bodies shrouded in white bags. The damage to the family was so extensive that Facebook user Asmaa Bakar wrote that they had been “erased from the civil registry.”
Across all available sources, the attack was consistently attributed to the Israeli military.