At 2 a.m. on Sunday, 28th May, 2025, at least nine members of the Al-Arbid family were killed by an alleged Israeli airstrike on the family’s house, located in Al-Saftawi area in North Gaza. The bomb struck the family home of journalist Osama al-Arbid, who was injured along with 17 other individuals.
Most sources such as @Snd_pal reported “an Israeli airstrike,” while PaliInfo highlighted that the attack was carried by “occupation aircraft.” Multiple sources support that the attack took place on the “Al-Arbid family home in the Al-Saftawi neighborhood, north of Gaza City.” Reports from @paldf and AlarabyTV specified that the house was “inhabited” at the time of the incident. @ALHIJASHI and AlloLiberte added that a “fire broke out” at the Al-Arbid family home following the attack. Both sources attached pictures of the immediate aftermath, showing a blazing fire and thick plumes of smoke rising up the air.
Safa PS initially reported “8 martyrs and a number of wounded” before updating its toll to “nine martyrs and 15 injuries.” In an “Updated” report, @Snd_pal and @qudsn both also recorded “9 martyrs and 15 injured.” Similarly, @sawtlebnan and southlebnan claimed that “about 10 people were killed.” In a Facebook post, journalist Mohamed Atef al-Arbid, cousin of journalist Osama al-Arbid and relative of many of the victims, later confirmed that the attack resulted “in the martyrdom of 10 family members and 18 injuries.”
At least nine individuals from the Al-Arbid family were identified among the victims. Osama al-Arbid lost his wife, Israa Issa al-Arbid Hassan, 30, and his two toddlers, three-year-old Iyad Osama al-Arbid, and two-year-old Muhammad Osama al-Arbid.
Osama’s brother, 26-year-old Muhammad Iyad al-Arbid, was also killed along with his wife, Safad Marwan al-Arbid, 24, and their two-year-old daughter, Sham Muhammad al-Arbid. Osama al-Arbid also mentioned “an unborn nephew” among the casualties, implying that his sister-in-law Safad was pregnant. Other members of the Al-Arbid family reportedly killed included Siham (Yousef Ali) al-Arbid, 65, Ahmed Samir al-Arbid, 23, and Hussein Muhammad Hassan al-Arbid.
After the incident, Osama al-Arbid spoke to Alam media about the attack, while still in his hospital bed with visible injuries to the face, head, mouth, and other areas of his body. In the interview, he confirmed the death of his wife, sons, and cousins. He recounted that after the strike, he found his daughter next to him unresponsive before neighbours came to rescue them from under the rubble: “I woke up today and I lost my family. I lost my wife, I lost my son Iyad and my son Muhammad, I lost my brother, I lost my cousins, I lost my nephew. What did I do? I’m a journalist, I’m a photojournalist. The occupation targeted our house without prior warning. When I first woke up I was under the rubble, so I started screaming so people could hear me. My daughter was next to me. I tried to get up at first with my daughter but I couldn’t, there was concrete on my thighs and legs. I couldn’t look at my daughter and she was the closest one to me. Then my neighbours started gathering and helping us get out, I saw that they got my daughter out from under the rubble first.”
In multiple pictures posted by Rozena Shon on Facebook, an unresponsive baby and a child can be seen carried out of the rubble.
Friends and relatives took to social media to express their grief following the passing of their close ones. Abu al-Saeed Abu Hussein bid farewell to his friend and neighbour, Ahmed Samir al-Arabid (Shanoon), whom he describes as a “kind” and “virtuous man” from whom the community “knew nothing but good.” Hamza Okal and Nedaa Okal offered prayers to their nephew Muhammad Iyad al-Arbid, who was killed along with his wife and daughter, as well as their niece Israa, who died with her two children. Another Facebook user, Abeer Nasrallah, paid tribute to his cousins Muhammad and Israa. Abu Rateb al-Halou shared a picture of Ahmed Samir al-Arbid with a text that reads “martyred hero, the man of chivalry and manliness, the noble and beloved martyr.”
Safa PS first claimed that the incident occurred “at dawn,” but journalist Mohamed Atef al-Arbid later specified that the attack took place “at exactly 2:00 a.m.” He also stressed that the aircraft struck his cousin’s home “without prior warning.”
A video relayed online of the funeral prayer held for the Al-Arbid family shows the bodies of the victims wrapped in shrouds, lined up on the floor before the burial. @AJA_Palestine noted that “The pain of loss is evident on the faces of worshippers.”
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 ninth “Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza”, which was released on June 23, 2025. The age of other victims was ascertained by cross-checking information from Shireen Monitor, and Genocide in Gaza (Gigaza), which host “martyr” lists.
Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the attack to Israeli forces.