On the morning of Friday, May 12th 2024, at least seven civilians were killed, including women and children, and one child was wounded after an alleged Israeli airstrike on the two residential apartments belonging to the Mushtaha and Abu Al-Atta families behind the Latin Monastery School in the centre of Gaza City. 34-year-old Ahmed Muhammed Hassan Abu al-Atta, a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), was also among those killed.
26-year-old Dr. Ruba Abu al-Atta was killed alongside her husband Ahmed, and their children: their son, two-year-old Muhammad Ahmed Abu al-Atta and daughter, seven-year-old Kenzi Ahmed Abu al-Atta. Another son of Ahmed and Ruba, Sinan Ahmed Abu al-Atta, was reportedly injured and family and friends shared prayers for his recovery. He appears to have been the only survivor from his immediate family. The mother of Ahmed Abu al-Atta, 53-year-old Khitam (Umm Adi) Abu al-Atta, along with her cousin Umm Waseem Abu al-Atta and her son, 29-year-old Waseem Naji Abu al-Atta.
When Airwars first published this incident on September 2, 2024, no open sources were found to suggest that Ahmed Abu al-Atta was a militant; he was remembered as a “winger for the Palestinian Al-Ahly football club”. As such, Ahmed 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.
However, on June 6, 2026, PIJ published a list of fighters who had been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023. Ahmed’s name and photograph were among those listed. As such, his civilian status has been updated to militant, and the number of civilians recorded as killed in this incident was changed from eight to seven.
Mourners took to social media with prayers and condolences. Facebook user Ismail Abu al-Ata Abu Ubaida posted a video compilation of Ahmed Abu Al-Atta, commiserating his death along with that of his wife and children. She lamented that “they departed from the world of annihilation to the abode of survival next to a kind and generous God”.
Tariq Musleh shared an image of Kenzi Abu Al-Atta from before the incident on Facebook, showing Kenzi smiling while holding sweets. Another image shared by Islam Abu al-Tati Abu Ayman on Facebook, showed a graduation celebration, two of the Abu al-Atta children are standing in front of their parents, holding up a sign that reads “Mama Ruba is the best Pharmaceutical doctor.”
Safa News reported that civil defence crews had initially recovered five civilians killed during the strike in the Shujaiya neighbourhood, behind the Latin Monastery School in the Old Gaza area. Graphic video content posted by @Mostafa Smaili to Facebook showed the bloodied bodies of children being loaded into a van following the incident. The video also showed the consequent property damage, including personal belongings mixed throughout the detritus.
Arwa Ashraf mourned the death of aunt Khitam, “who is dear to our hearts” but mentioned that two of the family members “are still alive.” However, the exact details and condition of those injured is unknown.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list released July 24, 2024.