Before the evening of August 20, 2025, 17 civilians, including at least three children, were reportedly killed and up to 50 civilians were injured in alleged Israeli military activity. The men were reportedly near a “Humanitarian Aid Zone” in Zikim, northwest of the Gaza Strip, when the incident occurred. Some of those waiting for the aid were killed by Israeli snipers whilst others were reportedly killed by Israeli airstrikes.
Twitter/X user @AlMayadeenLive reported the incident at 7:13 p.m., writing that “a number of martyrs and wounded arrived at Al-Shifa Medical Complex from the Zikim axis after the occupation forces opened fire on citizens waiting for humanitarian aid.” Hadith and Bahaa Al-Madhoun reported on Facebook that 17 young men were killed and 50 injured this afternoon in Zikim, north of Gaza.
Airwars researchers have identified the names of 13 of those men and boys reported killed in the incident. Khamis Awad Bakr, Muhammad Wasim Abu Sitta, Bakr Yasser Abu Faria (16, according to Shireen Monitor, or 17 years old), Muhammad Yasser Al-Jilawi (20 years old), the cousins Ahmad Yusef Abu Duhail (22 years old) and Ali Masoud Abu Duhail (33, according to Shireen Monitor, or 35 years old), Hassan Muhammad Abu Thabet (25 years old), and Musa Muhammad Al-Arr (28 years old).
Qusay Farid Hammad Abu Faria (20, according to Shireen Monitor, or 21 years old) was killed alongside his brother, Yousef Farid Hammad Abu Faria (17, according to Shireen Monitor, or 23 years old), and their cousin, Muhammad Saeed Hammad Abu Faria (19, according to Shireen Monitor, or 16 years old) and their relatives Hassan Nisman Abu Faria (29, according to Shireen Monitor, or 25 years old), and Abdul Hamid Juma Abdul Hamid Abu Faria (24 years old).
It is not clear from the sources which of the victims were guarding the humanitarian aid and which were waiting for it to dispersed.
The ages of victims have been reported by the sources, but were also cross-checked against lists of fatalities shared online by Shireen Monitor, an organisation which has a list of “martyrs” of Israeli forces from 2023 onwards. In case the ages were different, both were indicated above.
Following news of the incident, friends and family took to social media to mourn the loss of their loved ones and reflect on the tragedy. Posts shared by Ahmed Abu Sitta Salman mourned the passing of his nephew, Muhammad Wasim Abu Sitta, who he remembered as being “a polite young man” and virtuous soul who lived by the “Book of God”. In the posts he lamented how Muhammad had joined a long and growing list of relatives and friends who had been killed – among them his grandmother, his uncle Wissam, and the sons and daughters of his cousins Yassin and Abdul, his aunt Iktimal and her sons, and the sons and daughters of his cousin, Umm Basil. In the posts, Ahmed took solace in the belief that these family members were being reunited in Paradise by the grace of God.
Yassin Abu Sitta also mourned the death of Muhammad, his nephew, and posted his image where he is seen standing on a balcony dressed in a beige shirt, with a light smile on his face. He pleaded, “O God, forgive him and have mercy on him, pardon him and grant him well-being, honour his abode, expand his entrance, wash him with water, snow, and hail, and purify him from sins as a white garment is purified from filth.”
Khamis Bakr was remembered for his sporting prowess. Having been a member of the Beach Services Football Club since childhood, he had climbed through the ranks ending up playing for the first team. Friends and family recalled him being a good father, a supportive figure in the community, and a chivalrous man. Mohammad Nizar Yazji shared reflections on Facebook of a conversation he had had with Khamis in which the two had wished for a normal life that was not marred by war and conflict – especially for the sake of their children. Sadly, with his death, Khamis left behind a son who was shown “crying bitterly” at his funeral. Many social media sources shared an image of the late Khamis, who was a young man with short hair and a trimmed beard, dressed in a blue shirt.
Hassan Nisman Abu Faria was remembered by Nedal F Mekdad on Facebook, who added the image of the late Hassan, a man with short, styled hair dressed in a polo T-shirt.
The death of Musa Muhammad Al-Arr was mourned in the Facebook post by Hossam Al Hindi, who wrote, “The martyrdom of our sincere and trustworthy friend, Musa al-Ar, and we do not vouch for anyone before Allah.” He added the image of the late Musa, a young man with short curly hair, dressed in a black T-shirt and a blue jacket.
The cousins Ahmed Yousef Abu Duhail and Ali Masoud Abu Duhail were remembered in a Facebook post by Salam Abo Dheil who shared the images of the two young men, both dressed in black and having short hair and trimmed beards.
The other men and boys were also remembered collectively as the list of names of those killed in the incident were shared by the likes of the Àbd Àĺrhmàŋ Alrmèlat and Suliman Abo Gasem. In these posts, photographs and montages of those killed were shared. A post by the Al-Rumailat tribe on Facebook showed the work that the group was undertaking. In the images shared, armed aid guards wearing high-visibility vests are shown atop aid trucks. It is unclear when these photographs were taken.
Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to Israeli forces.