On 17th October, 2023, an alleged Israeli strike reportedly hit the Abdel-Al family home on George Street in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, killing 28 year old Nour El-Din Mahmoud Abdel-Al and injuring others.

A Facebook post by journalist Adel Zourob reported that a deceased person had arrived at the hospital “after the bombing of the Abdel-Al family’s house on George Street.”  The deceased is presumed to be Nour El-Din Mahmoud Abdel-Al. Multiple sources mentioned “injuries” occurring from the strike but did not provide an injury toll.

Several relatives of Nour El-Din Mahmoud Abdel-Al posted condolence messages on Facebook after his death, including cousins Salem Abdallah, Ibrahim Azab and Ayat Mohammed, and an uncle, Om Ibrahim. The posts included a prayer acknowledging Nour as “being provided for” with the Lord. The prayer also included hopes for his family’s patience and comfort.

Another Facebook post by Ansam Yasser, the brother-in-law of Nour El-Din Abdel-Al, included a picture of Nour, and read, “May God have mercy on you, Nour, and give patience to your heart, my sister, my sister’s husband, Nour Abdel-Al, is a martyr”.

Airwars has matched the name of the civilian killed with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023, which explicitly mentions that names on the list are “victims of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip”. Therefore this incident has been graded as a single source claim.

Due to the scale and urgency of Airwars’ assessment process, all images have been automatically uploaded to each assessment with the graphic filter applied to protect users. We have also included all images identified from the sources, which may also include any imagery of combatants.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

On Tuesday, October 17th 2023, at least one young male civilian was reportedly killed, but the precise details of the incident, including location and time, are not yet known.

The victim was identified by friends and family on social media as a 22-year old man named Youssef Naji Fares al-Hayek.

Family member Haya Bashar wrote a message on Facebook announcing the death of his cousin: “I swear to God, I don’t know how to console, what to say, or how to console. God is sufficient for me, and He is the best disposer of affairs 💔💔💔 The son of my cousin Umm Youssef, ‘Youssef Naji Al-Hayek,’ has passed away to the mercy of God Almighty, joining the convoys of martyrs.”

Facebook user Muaamen shared a photo of himself with Youssef, who is depicted taking a selfie of the two of them wearing a light blue polo shirt and a cap smiling toward the camera.  The comment reads, “with great sorrow and sadness, and with hearts that believe in God’s will and destiny My friend, the martyr Youssef Al-Hayek, has passed away. May God accept you and make your place in heaven.”

Family members and friends shared many images of the late Youssef on social media where he appears as a young and smiling bearded man and was described as a “pure soul.” In an image shared by Hayek Family he is dressed in a white shirt and is captured against the backdrop of the sea.

While local sources did not identify the belligerent, Airwars has matched the name of the civilian killed with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023, which explicitly mentions that names on the list are “victims of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.” Therefore, the strike status of this incident has been graded as a single source claim. However, based on the multiple sources reporting on the civilian harm, the civilian harm status has been graded as fair.

The location of the strike is unknown.

Due to the scale and urgency of Airwars’ assessment process, all images have been automatically uploaded to each assessment with the graphic filter applied to protect users. We have also included all images identified from the sources, which may also include any imagery of combatants.

The local time of the incident is unknown.