Three civilians, including a child and two men, were killed and seven to eight civilians were injured in an alleged airstrike carried out by the Israeli military on the house of the Abu Hamid family in the Musbah/Miraj junction north of Rafah, Gaza Strip. The strike reportedly took place during the afternoon of Wednesday, the 27th July 2024.
Those killed were named by sources as two young men belonging to the Abu Naja family, Hamid Muhammad Abu Al-Naja and Muhannad Ibrahim Abu Al-Naja, and a seven-year-old girl, Alaa Hitham Aataiah Abu Hamida.
Initial sources reported two deaths; this is likely due to the difficulty of recovering those killed on the day of the strike. Despite urgent appeals for first aid to uncover “living citizens and martyrs under the rubble,” rescue teams were only able to uncover two of those killed days after the incident. According to Safa Press Service and the Facebook page of Palestine’s Fifth News Network, both Muhannad Abu Naja and Alaa Abu Hamida were recovered several days later – on the 1st of August.
Duaa Fawzy Abu Naja posted a condolence post to Facebook, honouring his cousin, “the late Dr. Muhammad: Hamid Muhammad Abu Naja.” Duaa mentioned that both Hamid’s brother and father had been killed a month prior. Hamid’s father, Ibrahim Abu Naja, was a founding member of Fatah and the Palestinian Authority’s former governor of Gaza (not recognised by Hamas).
Photos of Hamid showed a young man in his 20s with a dark complexion, styled hair, large brown eyes, full lips, and a trimmed beard looking into the camera with a slight smile. He was wearing a black shirt, black jacket and jeans.
His cousin Muhannad Ibrahim Abu Naja was also killed in the strike. A photo of him on a motorcycle smiling was shared. He was a man in his 30s with an elongated face, dark hair and eyes, thick eyebrows, and a trimmed beard. Mahmoud Mohammad shared a message saying: “The eyes are filled with tears and the heart is saddened by the separation of loved ones.” Another message from the Al-Naja family said “It is with great pride that we mourn the family of Abu Al-Naja. A constellation of righteous satellites.”
Safa Press Service later reported on the death of the seven-year-old girl Alaa Hitham Aataiah Abu Hamida. Although the sources did not mention the age and gender of Alaa Abu Hamida, Airwars researchers matched it with the name of the victim in the Sixth Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities released on September 16, 2024.
The injured people were also from the Abu Hamida (Al-Satri) family. Safa Press Service reported a slightly lower number of injuries putting the toll at seven at 13:03. Most other sources, however, reported that the number of injured was higher: “Ambulance crews evacuated 8 injured people.” Twitter/X user @iiCR777 wrote that amongst the injured were children. They stated that the children’s voices “could be heard from under the rubble.”
Four houses, including the house of the Abu Hamid family, were allegedly hit in the Kaf Mirage. Photographs and videos showed large plumes of smoke after the bombs were dropped on the houses. Numerous videos shared on Facebook and Twitter/X then showed the first moments after the incident as smoke spread and continued to billow from the explosion.
Where the sources identified a belligerent, all sources claimed the Israeli military was responsible.