Around 16:00 on 20 November 2024 at least seven displaced people from two families – including three women and two children – were reportedly killed, and up to 15 others injured, in an alleged Israeli airstrike on the southern building of the Khalid bin al-Walid Secondary School for Boys, located near the Ministry of Education building in the south of the Nuseirat camp in the Deir al-Balah governorate in central Gaza.
Whilst seven people were named to have been killed by friends and family members, as well as news organisations and the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre from Human Rights, some sources, such as Palestine Today TV, placed the death toll as high as 10.
A number of sources reported the number of injured at 15.
Those named to have been killed in the incident came from three generations of the Aql family and two generations of the al-Ashqar family.
55-year-old grandfather Ziad Zaki Abdel Hadi Aql, also known as Abu Mujahid, who was an educator, was killed alongside his 22-year-old daughter, Weam Ziad Zaki Aql, and his daughter-in-law, Nisreen Ali Saber Qaddoha ‘Aql’, also known as Umm Zeina, who was 22 years old. Nisreen Ali Saber Qadohha’s one-and-a-half-year-old infant daughter Zeina Omar Ziad Aql was also killed in the strike, as was Ziad Zaki Abdel Hadi Aql’s eight-year-old grandson Moaz Yousef Khalil al-Faqih.
From the al-Ashqar family, 48-year-old Kifah Khalaf Ibrahim al-Ashqar, also known as Umm Anwar, was killed alongside her 30-year-old son, Anwar Muhammad Hamza al-Ashqar.
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 “Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza”, which was released on March 24, 2025.
The ages of the remaining victims have been found by cross-checking names against lists of fatalities shared online by the “Genocide in Gaza” website.
A video posted by Qatari news network al-Araby TV showed some of those wounded or killed in the incident arriving at al-Awda hospital by horse-and-cart and car. The video also showed injured people receiving treatment.
An image, shared on Facebook by several people, including Ousama al-Khahlout, shows either six or seven bodies, covered in shrouds, laid out on the ground as a crowd looks on.
Numerous friends and family members mourned and paid tribute on social media to those members of the Aql family killed in the strike.
Mohammed Zyad Aql mourned the loss of his family members in a Facebook post, writing, “My beloved, optimistic, giving father [Ziad Zaki Abdel Hadi Aql], strong-willed and determined, was killed. I derived my strength and determination from you, my beloved. Who can compensate me with someone like you?… And I have only seen remnants of a face, a head, and pieces of a body. Praise be to God that He chose him in a great battle like this. I consider him among the righteous and a martyr with God’s permission. Weam [Weam Ziad Zaki Aql], my beloved, my sister, my beloved, I do not know what to say about you, my beloved, my beautiful, laughing friend. I cannot imagine how I can complete my days without your laughter, without your voice, without you. Praise be to God. Moaz [Moaz Yousef Khalil Al-Faqih], my esteem, the beloved of your uncle. You are happy with the simplest things and he comes to show you and laughs. They burned you my love… Zeina [Zeina Omar Ziad Aql] and Umm Zeina [Nisreen Ali Saber Qaddoha “Aql”], my beloved little girl, they deprived me of you, my dear, how sweet you are, how kind you are, and how precious you are to me. How did we treat her? She started walking and getting to know us. My beloved Zeina imagines everything about you.” Attached to the memorial were several photographs: Ziad in a blue shirt, Zeina in a pink dress, a smiling Moaz in navy and two young adults, one of whom, in a black hijab, is likely Weam.
Similarly, mourning those members of the Aql family killed in the incident, Umm Omar Aql wrote on Facebook that “Every day we advise and stand up and live the tragedies of heartbreaking news.”
Ibrahim Ibn Yusuf, writing on Facebook, described Ziad Zaki Abdel Hadi Aql as an “honourable educator” and an “icon of the Citadel of the Martyrs’ Mosque, a leader, educator, role model and one of the first generation.”
Many others echoed this message, for example, Miriam M Fayyad, who described Ziad Zaki Abdel Hadi Aql as an “honourable teacher.”
Umm Ousama Aql noted Ziad Zaki Abdel Hadi Aql’s piety, describing him as “the virtuous Sheikh who memorized the Book of God”.
In a photograph shared by multiple sources, Ziad is pictured wearing a black suit and a tie.
Amna Muhammad Aql, meanwhile, mourned Weam Ziad Zaki Aql, writing, “Goodbye Weam, goodbye my love, goodbye my twin! Weam was martyred!! Weam, because I love her so much, I told her I will name my daughter after you, so she will look like you. I couldn’t wait and kept nagging my mom to name my little sister Weam, because my daughter is still tall… My dear Weam, my beloved my twin, we looked a lot like each other. You always used to tell me for every small and big achievement: I am proud of you my twin. We missed each other a lot and we always prayed to God to hasten our meeting, but our meeting will be in the highest paradise, God willing…”
Basoma Jamal also mourned Weam Ziad Zaki Aql, describing her as, “My love, my lifelong companion, and my martyred sister. May God have mercy on you, Weam, and comfort your heart and our hearts, my aunt, my love.”
Meanwhile, Waed Emad mourned the loss of Nisreen Ali Saber Qaddoha ‘Aql’ and her infant daughter, Zeina Omar Ziad Aql, writing on Facebook, “For God’s sake… How does a person mourn his friend?! How does a person mourn his heart?! Here are the dearest friends, my companion. Here is the love of my heart Nisreen Saber Qaddoha . And her daughter Zeina Omar Aql. What should I tell them about, my love, about your intelligence or your creativity, O our laughter and our companion, every description before you, my love, is inadequate. I wish God had taken us together, my love… She is for God, with her companions, her family, her upbringing, her building and her children. To the side of God, my love, is better than any side. Until we meet soon, God willing. May God have mercy on your soul, my heart.”
Several also mourned the loss of Anwar Muhammad Hamza al-Ashqar and his mother Kifah Khalaf Ibrahim al-Ashqar on social media.
Among them, Firas Izz al-Din wrote on Facebook, “Every day we have a dear deceased in our hearts… The martyr, God willing, my aunt Kifah Abu al-Jidyan (Umm Anwar) [Kifah Khalaf Ibrahim al-Ashqar] and her son, the martyr, God willing, Anwar al-Ashqar [Anwar Muhammad Hamza al-Ashqar], have passed away to the mercy of God almighty. May God have mercy on them, and grant them the highest paradise. O God, forgive them, have mercy on them, pardon them, honor their abode, expand their entrance, wash them with water, snow, and hail, and purify them from sins and faults as a white garment is purified from filth.”
Younik Watani described Kifah Khalaf Ibrahim al-Ashqar as “my friend, the owner of the beautiful smile,” adding, “May God have mercy on you, my dear. I will miss all your beautiful laughs.” He attached a photograph of Kifah wearing a white hijab and a striped blue top.
Meanwhile, another video published by al-Araby TV on Twitter/X showed the scenes inside the building shortly after the strike. The video depicted at least one body being removed from the building on a stretcher by distraught civilians, as crowds searched among the rubble in the background. Fires could be seen burning in the heavily damaged building.
Another video, posted by Qatari network al-Jazeera Net, also depicted the aftermath of the strike, showing the extensive damage to the building and fires burning as people searched for survivors.
In a report from Palestine Today TV correspondent Ahmed al-Barash, filmed later in the hours of darkness, extensive damage to the inside of the building was also visible, as well as large amounts of people’s personal belongings, such as clothing, scattered among the ruins.
Meanwhile, an image posted on Facebook by al-Tair al-Hurr showed an unexploded missile lodged in a damaged balcony among laundry hanging out to dry.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights reported that the Khalid bin al-Walid School was housing dozens of internally displaced families at the time of the strike.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to Israeli forces.