BEIRUT (AP) – Israel air and ground campaign in Gaza killed hundreds of family members of the same lineage, an unprecedented impact on the small community made up mostly of refugees and their descendants.
One Associated Press investigation analyzed 10 attacks in the Gaza Strip between October and December that killed more than 500 people. Almost all Palestinian families suffered serious and multiple losses. But many were decimated, especially in the first months of the war.
The AP geolocated and analyzed the attacks; consulted with weapons investigators; open data analysts and legal experts; and drew on data from Airwars, a London-based conflict monitor. They hit residential buildings and shelters with families inside. In no case was there an obvious military target or direct warning to those inside. In one case, the family said they raised a white flag on their building in a combat zone.
This war proved to be even more deadly than the displacement of Israel in 1948, said Rashid Khalidi, a Palestinian-American historian at Columbia University, when 20,000 people were killed in what is known as the Nakbah, or Catastrophe.
“I don’t think something like this happened in modern Palestinian history,” said Khalidi.
Al-Agha family, 31 dead
On 11 October, an airstrike destroyed Amin al-Agha’s house in western Khan Younis. The 61-year-old man slept on the ground floor of the two-story building with his wife and three children. The top floor was the home of his son Muhannad al-Agha, 30, his wife Hind and their two daughters, Talin, 2, and Asil, 1. The airstrike killed 11 family members, including two cousins in an adjacent building .
“It was no longer a house. It was a pile of sand,” said Jaser al-Agha, a cousin who arrived shortly after the attack.
Early on October 14, an Israeli bomb hit the home of Khamis al-Agha, an employee of a Hamas-linked charity. The three-story building in the center of Khan Younis was reduced to rubble. Among the dead: Khamis al-Agha, 38, his wife, Nisreen, two sons, ages 11 and 13, two daughters, ages 8 and 6, and his younger brother and 9-year-old son, a cousin and the her son. Only the brother’s wife survived.
On November 14, the house of Awni al-Agha, Khamis’ second cousin, was hit, destroying the three-story building in western Khan Younis. Brian Castner, a weapons investigator at Amnesty International, said the damage also indicated it was an airstrike.
Only a satellite dish stuck out from the rubble. The attack killed Awni al-Agha’s wife, Samia, aged 64; her four children, aged 42 and 26, her daughter Ramah, 41, her husband and two sons, aged 18 and 16. Awni al-Agha, a government education official, survived because he woke up for dawn prayers. Three months later, in February, Awni al-Agha died at age 69, likely of a broken heart, Jaser al-Agha said.
Emily Tripp, director of Airwarssaid its investigators struggled to deal with the murder of entire familiesthrough generations.
“Sometimes we had to create family trees to understand the harm to civilians,” she said.
Abu Naja family, 20 dead
Israeli planes hit the homes of the Abu Naja and Madi families in southern Rafah on October 17. Twenty members of the Abu Naja family were killed immediately, including two pregnant women and eight children. The airstrikes killed the 78-year-old grandmother, her granddaughter and their children. Airwars said one of the dead men was identified on Facebook as a “Mujahid” or “warrior”. His wife, pregnant sister and 2-year-old daughter also died.
Killing a combatant who is not taking part in hostilities and is in a place full of civilians is considered a violation of the laws of war.
Tarzai and Souri families, 20 dead
An Israeli airstrike destroyed a church building in Gaza City where hundreds of displaced people were sheltering. The October 19 attack killed 20 members of the mixed Tarzai and Souri families of Christian community in decline in Gaza, including at least seven children. Ramez al-Souri lost his three children and his wife.
Israel’s military said it attacked a Hamas command and control center, accusing the group of infiltrating civilians. He recognized that the wall of a church was damaged.
Amnesty visited the website and analyzed videos, including one published and later deleted by the Israeli army, and concluded that it was an airstrike. Even if a military target was identified, Amnesty said, “it was reckless and therefore constitutes a war crime.”
Jabalia refugee camp, more than 130 dead
O October 31 Israeli bombing It was one of the deadliest of this war. The Jabalia refugee camp was one of the most densely populated areas in Gaza and has been hit several times since October 7. The true number of victims remains unknown because many remain under the rubble.
The air wars named 112 civilian deaths from 11 families, including 69 children and 22 women. They included at least 47 members of the Okasha and Abou al-Qoumsan families. The AP identified 17 more members of the al-Qoumsan family, where uncles, parents and children died.
O bombs left several craters in an area extending more than 100 meters (yards). Several buildings collapsed. “This is consistent with the largest craters we have seen…in the last 20 years,” Cobb-Smith said.
Israel said it was targeting a Hamas command and control center and a Hamas battalion commander inside, who would be the most senior member of the group killed so far.
Doghmush family, 44 dead
An attack on a mosque in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City occurred in the early evening of November 15, killing at least 44 people from the Doghmush family, including the head of the family, a 9-year-old child, community leaders and two female relatives. in an adjacent building.
Damage appeared limited to the top floors of the mosque. In a video taken later, there was no crater and the mosque appeared to have been cleaned. There were no signs of significant damage nearby, indicating that the mosque may have been a direct target of small aerial munitions, said Chris Cobb-Smith, a former UN weapons inspector and British army officer who investigated in Gaza after past wars.
The mosque was built and is owned by the Doghmush family. Ragab Doghmush, whose 21-year-old brother was killed, said the mosque has no militant affiliation and that the family does not allow any militant activity in their neighborhood. A rivalry between the Doghmush family and Hamas, dating back to Hamas’ 2007 seizure of power, has largely kept the area off-limits to Hamas militants.
Salem family, 173 dead
Israeli airstrikes destroyed two separate shelters for Salem’s family on December 11 and 19. At least 173 family members were killed, including children, at least one pregnant woman and many elderly people, including the 87-year-old head. the family.
The December 11 airstrike destroyed a block of family buildings. One was destroyed, while others lost their facades. Experts said the limited damage indicated it was a large bomb timed to delay an explosion until after impact.
At least eighty people were killed, including several generations of the same bloodline. Relatives said there was no obvious combat activity nearby.
On December 19, an Israeli airstrike targeted another group of displaced members of the Salem family, who were sheltering in a villa in Rimal. The attack left a deep crater, but the surrounding buildings were not damaged. Survivors said tanks rolled over the rubble. At least 90 Salems were killed.
“I saw the bodies of my uncles and cousins scattered across the ground,” said Mohamed Salem, who survived the December 19 attack. “We could only identify the bodies by their identities. They were just a pile of meat.”
Maghazi refugee camp, at least 106 dead
Witnesses said at least four houseswhich hosts many displaced Palestinians, was hit directly on December 24th. Body parts were scattered across the surrounding areas.
Videos showed damage consistent with airstrikes. The images showed several destroyed houses in narrow alleys flanked by small buildings, most of them one-story, and a large crater at the entrance to the camp.
The AP had access to post-strike hospital records that recorded 106 people killed. Using public death notices and partial data from the Ministry of Health, the AP was able to identify 36 people from the Nawasreh, Abu Hamdah and Qandil families.
Israel said it was targeting Hamas militants and mistakenly struck two adjacent structures.
In the first and rare statement to admit a mistaken attack, Israel said it regretted the “harm caused to those not involved.” It stated that it took the necessary measures to prevent harm to civilians. A military official told Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster, that the wrong weapon was used in the attack, without giving further details.
___
Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org or
