Around midday on Wednesday, September 18th 2024, at least seven civilians, including two women and four children, were reportedly killed, and dozens of others, including a child along with his father, were injured, in a declared Israeli airstrike which hit the Ibn Al Haytham School located at the end of Omar Al Mukhtar Street in the Al Shuja’iyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City.
Israeli forces stated that they had “conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists operating within a command and control center” in the school compound.
Multiple sources, including Twitter/X users @KhaledSafi and @Almeqdad, reported that the school was housing displaced people at the time of the strike, with the majority of casualties being women and children.
IDF also claimed that prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence.
Ramy Abdu (@RamAbdu), chairman of Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, stated on Twitter/X that there were no militants among the victims: “Two of our researchers immediately arrived on the scene and found no signs of militants – only displaced civilians. Below are the names of the victims, all women, children, and one elderly man.” He added: “We challenge the Israeli army to name even one militant.” Ramy Abdu also provided the names and ages of the victims.
Additionally, the lists shared on Facebook, including those by Mohmad Alseqli and Tareq Yahia, also provided the identities of some of the victims, stating that 60-year-old Fouad Muhammad Shaaban Al-Sigali (Abu Muhammad) was killed alongside his son Muhammad’s wife, 18-year-old Israa Ayoub Diab Al-Siqali (Shwaidah) and her children, four-year-old boy Fouad Muhammad Al-Siqali and an infant boy, six-month-old Imad Muhammad Al-Siqali. This was corroborated by Saber Namara on Facebook, detailing that Fouad and Imad were Fouad Al-Sigali’s grandchildren.
In a separate Facebook post, Mohammed Abu Saria shared a similar list, adding that 22-year-old Israa’s sister Alaa Ayoub Diab Abu Halima (Shwaidah) and her children, three-year-old son Issa Anas Abu Halima and infant son, one year and three month old Malik Anas Abu Halima were among the deceased.
Additionally, Twitter/X users @KhaledSafi and @TamerMisshal identified the young boy Musab Ziad Al-Mubayed as one of those injured alongside his father Ziad Al-Mubayed who lost his hand.
Family members and friends mourned the loss on social media, sharing pictures and tributes to the deceased and wounded. Many remembered Fouad Al-Siqali, with images shared of him in a chequered shirt, or during his pilgrimage to Mecca, standing in front of the Kaaba.
Anas Issa, Alaa’s husband, shared a tribute on Facebook, mourning his wife and their two sons, alongside a collage of pictures of their children. He wrote a testimony to his deceased wife: “My wife ❤ #Alaa Alaa Aiop. She was my paradise ❤️ She left to tell me that good people do not last long, my Lord, when I miss her, fill me with patience and certainty of meeting her and accompanying her in your highest paradise, O God, have mercy on the one who was the fig of the heart, the love of life, the cheerful face, the companion of the heart, the best wife, friend and lover …” Doaa B Harb also mourned Alaa, writing, “My friend and schoolmate was martyred early, my beloved Alaa. May God have mercy on you and your children.”
The death of Israa Ayoub Diab Al-Siqali (Shwaidah) was also mourned on social media. Dr. Helmi Faqieh wrote on Facebook that just two days before her death Israa had completed memorizing the entire Quran.
The exact number of casualties varied among sources. While Facebook users 24 Amen and Masdar Akhbariun reported about at least one martyr and several people were wounded, Twitter/X user @OsamaDmour5 reported eight deaths, including five children and two women. This number was supported by other Facebook users, such as Yaser Akram Dudeen, Leqa’a Al Saadi, and Moudar Mustafa. The news agency Safa PS initially reported the death of at least one person, later updating its information to confirm at least eight deaths. Other sources, including @MayadeenEnglish Twitter/X account and Facebook users Faraj Shuman and Rafah Badwan, reported as many as ten civilians killed in the attack.
Although injuries were widely referenced, the exact figures remain unclear. Many sources referenced multiple injuries without providing specifics; however, Safa PS spoke about “several injuries.” Youm7 news further reported that there were “many ‘very serious’ injuries that have reached the Baptist Hospital in the city.” Finally, Twitter/X account of Quds News Network @QudsNen reported that there were “dozens of injuries”.
It was reported by Twitter/X user @rovenaviolet that “the bodies of the victims were in pieces…they had to collect each piece individually and put them in bags.” Social media users, including Twitter/X user @gazanotice, shared graphic pictures of a amputated human hand covered with dust carried by a civil defense volunteer.
A widely circulated video showed the chaotic aftermath of the attack. It featured a young boy standing on a balcony, covered in dust and blood, screaming in distress. The footage depicted other children in shock or running from the school, crying, while adults searched for survivors amidst significant destruction. Large holes punctured the school walls, with dust and debris scattered across the rooms and corridors.
The video filmed by Mohamed Al-Jabary on September 22 and shared by @KhaledSafi and others, is believed to show the young Musab Al-Mobayed with his arm and one finger bandaged. Musab was recorded talking about the horrific attack he had just survived and the severe injury of his father: “Thank God my injury was not severe enough. We were sitting safely inside the classroom. There is nothing on us, and we never hurt anybody. Dad brought us olives to make us happy, and we were working on them together. And when my dad put his hand on his chair to rest, the bombing happened. After 5 minutes from the strike and when the dust was gone, I looked for my dad. I found my dad without a hand and his leg with an open wound and it’s bleeding. I was able to leave the classroom and call on people to come and help my dad. I couldn’t handle the bombing. Till this moment, I was shocked about this bombing.”
A photograph shared by several people, including @TamerMisshal and Facebook user Halima Alabed, juxtaposed a screenshot of Musab in distress with a later image of him after receiving medical treatment.
Twitter/X user Palestinian Info Center (@palinfoen) shared an emotional testimony of a woman who brought thyme and olive oil to the school a minute before the deadly strike. She told the reporters crying: “Today specifically there were no classes. I came to distribute thyme and olive oil (manakeesh) to the people. They were so full of joy! I heard them with my own ears saying: “Come on, we are getting olive oil”. “We are getting thyme.” I had barely left, a minute or a minute and a half, and I heard the rocket. I didn’t think that was Ibn al-Haytham School. Then my family started to call, checking on me, my children, my neighbors. Then I was shocked when I saw what happened to the school.”
Another video filmed by Mohamed Al-Jabary and shared on social media by many users showed the first minutes after the attack. The graphic video featured small children and women running from the place and screaming, huge clouds of smoke near the destroyed tents, and an injured teenager in a blood-soaked T-shirt accompanied by a volunteer in an orange vest.
Twitter/X account of Al-Jazeera (@ajmubasher) shared a video featuring a middle-aged mother who lost her several children in the attack. She is seen grieving over their death and screaming: “Most of my children are dead.”
Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which include national ID numbers. Airwars is matching individuals to the first list where their name appeared. In regard to this incident, names are matched to the seventh ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ list.
Regarding the specific area of the incident, all sources that referred to the location reported that it occurred at the Ibn al-Haytham School in the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood. Several sources, including Safa PS and Masdar Akhbariun, specified that the incident took place in the vicinity of the Shuja’iyya junction, east of the city. Twitter/X user @ChrisOsieck published the exact coordinates of the school.
The IDF’s statement published in its Telegram channel at 12:31 read: “A short while ago, with the direction of IDF and ISA intelligence, the IAF conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists operating within a command and control center embedded inside a compound that previously served as the “Ibn Al-Haytam” School in the area of Gaza City. The command and control center was used by the Hamas terrorists to plan and carry out terrorist activities against IDF troops and the State of Israel.”