On August 28, 2024, an alleged Israeli drone strike hit a group of civilians sheltering in front of Al Manfalouti School in Deir Al Balah, Gaza Strip, killing at least ten civilians and injuring “dozens.” The school was being used as a shelter for displaced persons.
Initial reports claimed seven people had been killed, with the figure increasing throughout the day. Four hours after the initial reports, Safa confirmed the death of nine civilians due to the attack, naming 33-year-old Ibrahim Saqr Muhammad Abu Awili from Deir al-Balah killed alongside his 17-year-old nephew, Saqr Muhammad Saqr Abu Awili.
Safa also named 23-year-old Hamza Mufid Ubaid from Shuja’iyya, killed with 19-year-old Tamer Atef Salman Abu Mughsib, from Wadi al-Salqa. Also named were 45-year-old Mahmoud Darwish Mustafa al-Salibi from the al-Baraka area of Deir al-Balah and 20-year-old Jihad Suleiman Saleh Abu Muharab, from Abu al-Ajeen. 17-year-old Muhammad Abdullah Marish, along with 17-year-old Rajab Abdullah Ahmad Marish and his brother, five-year-old Jude Abdullah Ahmad Marish, were also killed, as was 17-year-old Saqr Muhammad Saqr Abu Awili. 20-year-old Fadi Iyad Muammar Juha was reportedly killed alongside three other family members.
Some sources alleged “a number” or “a large number” of injuries, while others reported seven injuries. Twitter/X user @F24online claimed “dozens” had been wounded.
The news outlet al-Quds UK posted eyewitness reports, mostly from the victims’ family members. Al-Quds provided an account of a survivor, Ziad al-Harazin, whose wife, Naila, and daughter were injured in the strike. Among those killed were four relatives of Ziad’s wife.
With multiple sources stating that the strike was carried out by a drone, and others specifying that it was a “quadcopter,” Ziad told al-Quds that the strike was a “surprise” because the drone was so close to the ground that those on the ground could see its “parts.” Ziad added that due to how close the drone was to the ground, the “presence of the…children and women was visible.”
Ziad also highlighted the suffering of displaced families like his own who had been forced to evacuate multiple times. Ziad said that he and his family had only been at Al Manfalouti for seven minutes when the school was struck. Speaking about the number of times he and his family had been displaced since October 2023, Ziad said that their arrival at Al Manfalouti marked their “17th displacement,” adding that “we survived under the rubble six previous times.”
After the bombing, Ziad carried his wife, Naila, from the school to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, 600 meters away from the school, with Ziad adding that no one helped them due to fear of another attack. Naila was critically injured by missile fragments, and there were no doctors or medicine available. Naila was, Zaid said, “still bleeding, as her body was filled with fragments from the missile, and there [were] no medicines or doctors inside the hospital.”
Speaking about his relatives who were killed, Ziad remembered his wife’s five-year-old brother, possibly named Jude Abdullah Ahmad Marish (given references in other sources), who had brought toys for Ziad’s daughter, adding that “The last thing he told me was that he missed playing with her.”
Remembering 20-year-old Fadi Iyad Muammar Juha, Zaid said Fadi had been incredibly hungry due to the scarcity of food: “Fadi told me, I am hungry, I have not eaten since yesterday, and I brought him Indomie [a packaged instant noodle product], and he told me after he started eating it, I started to feel full, and he was martyred while eating. And inside his mouth was some Indomie.”
Randa Abu Awaini, the mother of the killed Saqr Muhammad Saqr Awili, was also quoted by al-Quds: “They bombed the school wall, and my son Saqr (17 years old) and his uncle Ibrahim (33 years old) were martyred while they were trying to inspect our house opposite the school wall, and two [others] were injured. By God, I felt like I was dreaming. By God, I wish I could wake up.”
Randa’s nephew, Khaled Abu Awaini, recounted the bombing that killed his uncle Ibrahim and cousin Saqr, and injured another uncle, Imad. He described how Ibrahim asked him to take him to the hospital due to a chest injury sustained in the strike, but he was unable to carry him, leading to Ibrahim’s death.
Many of Mahmoud al-Salibi’s family posted memorials to social media after his death. Remembered as “beloved,” relatives asked that “the Almighty […] cover him with His vast mercy.”
Others commemorated Hamza Obaid, remembering him as “noble” and “brave.” Hamza’s sister, Mysaa Em Ameer, wrote that with his death, “the youngest of the family has gone and taken our joy and our hearts with him.” Another sibling, A. Ahmad Abeed, asked that Hamza rest in “a paradise whose bliss never fades away.”
The Twitter/X account of Al Jazeera and several other social media accounts (@Ebrahim_alqaa, @megaphone_news, @khaberni, @SafaPs, @quds_feed) posted a video of a mother trying to perform CPR on her youngest son, 5-year-old Jude. Her 17-year-old son, Rajab, was also killed in the bombing.
Where possible, names have been matched to the sixth Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza list of fatalities.
Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to Israeli forces.