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Palestinians attend the funeral of the Asoarka family killed in the Israeli strike, Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, November 14, 2019. Credit: AFP Published by Haaretz

Palestinians attend the funeral procession of members of the same family who were killed overnight in an Israeli airstrike, Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, November 14, 2019. Credit: AFP Published by Haaretz

Haaretz headlines. Screenshot. Published by Haaretz
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by IMEMC News
November 14, 2019 3:26 PM

The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported that Israeli missiles struck, on Thursday at dawn, a Palestinian home in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, killing eight members of the same family, and wounding thirteen others.

The Health Ministry stated that Israeli F16 war jets fired missiles into a home in Deir al-Balah, killing six family members, and wounding at least thirteen others, most of them are women and children.

The remains of two more children were found under the rubble, amidst ongoing search.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) has reported that the slain Sawarka (Abu Malhous) family has been officially identified as:

Rasmi Salem Odah Sawarka, 45.
Mariam Salem Nasser Sawarka, 45.
Mohannad Rasmi Salem Sawarka, 12.
Fira sRasmi Salem Sawarka, 2.
Salem Rasmi Salem Sawarka, 3.
Moath Mohmmad Salem Sawarka, 7.
Waseem Mohammad Salem Sawarka, 13.
Yosra Mohammad Awwad Sawarka, 39.
Only one toddler survived the Israeli attack and was found shielded by her slain brother.

The slain and injured Palestinians were moved to the al-Aqsa hospital, while medics and rescue teams started a search campaign, looking for more Palestinians who might be buried under the rubble.

Updated On Nov 14, 2018: Their death brings the number of slain Palestinians, who were killed by Israeli missiles, since Monday at dawn, to 32, while more than 100 others have been injured. Among the wounded are at least 30 children and 13 women.

In related news, a six-month pregnant woman, identified as Iman Abu Tayyim, suffered a miscarriage in a severe anxiety attack after the soldiers fired missiles near her home, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

The escalation on the Gaza Strip started when Israel assassinated a senior leader of the Islamic Jihad, identified as Baha’ Abu al-‘Ata, when the soldiers dropped a missile on his home, killing him along with his wife, Asma’, also wounding many members of their family, in addition to a female neighbor, in the Sheja’eyya area, east of Gaza city.

Israeli missiles and shells have caused a power blackout after striking main powerlines and transformers, especially in Gaza city and the northern parts of the coastal region, including Jabalia and Beit Lahia.

Updated From: Nov 14, 2019 @ 04:11
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Israeli Army Admits to Killing Eight Gaza Family Members: We Thought the House Was Empty

Israeli military’s spokesperson in Arabic said that the target was an Islamic Jihad commander, but defense establishment sources say it was an ‘infrastructure’■ Palestinians say casualties are a family of herders

by Yaniv Kubovich and Jack Khoury for Haaretz
Nov 15, 2019 8:23 AM

The Israeli military admitted on Thursday that it made a mistake in targeting a Gaza building Wednesday night which housed a family of eight, all of whom died in the strike.

The Israeli army said it assessed that the building in the Deir al-Balah neighborhood was empty, not realizing it was populated by a family. The Israel Defense Forces are investigating the strike, which took place a few hours before a cease-fire came into effect, and its consequences.

"We are aware of the claim that non-combatants were injured in the central Gaza Strip, and we are investigating it," the IDF said in a statement, adding that that "we undertake great intelligence and operational efforts not to harm non-combatants over the course of thwarting terror activities."

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified them as Rasmi al-Sawarkah, 45; his son Muhannad, 12; Maryam, 45; Muath Mohammed, 7; Wasim Mohammed, 13; Yousra, 39; and two toddlers whose bodies were dug up from the debris on Thursday morning and whose names haven’t been released.

Following the strike, the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesperson announced that the target had been Rasmi Abu Malhous, the Islamic Jihad commander of a rocket squadron in the center of the Strip. He published a picture of Abu Malhous, but residents of Deir al-Balah say the man in the picture isn’t the one who was killed on Wednesday night.

Sources in the defense establishment said, however, that the target of the strike was "infrastructure," and that they were not at all aware that Palestinians were in it.

Associates and neighbors of the family claim that they had no connection to the Islamic Jihad commander, and that the case was probably one of mistaken identity.

“This was a very simple, poor family, who lives from hand to mouth in a tin shack, with no water or electricity,” said a neighbor who knew the family. “They lived off herding sheep and were known as simple, poor people. Is this the way the head of a rocket unit or a senior Islamic Jihadist lives?

“Every child in Gaza knows the unit members and senior activists live in different conditions, they have houses, and even when they go underground their children and families don’t live in such squalor,” he said. “The story that they attacked a senior jihadist seems disconnected from reality.”
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Israeli Claims Bombing of Family Home a “Mistake”
November 15, 2019 4:30 PM

by IMEMC

Haaretz headline – Israeli Army Admits to Killing Eight Gaza Family Members: We Thought the House Was Empty

November 15 – 8:33 A.M Israeli army admits to killing eight Gaza family members: “We thought the house was empty.”

The Israeli military admitted it made a mistake in targeting a Gaza building Wednesday night, which killed a family of eight.

The army said it assessed that the building in the Deir al-Balah neighborhood was empty, not realizing it was populated by a family…

(The full article is behind a pay-wall)

Neighbors and acquaintances said it was a case of mistaken identity. The military said it had targeted Rasmi Abu Malhous, commander of the Islamic Jihad’s rocket squadron in the central Gaza Strip, but acquaintances of the family say the strike killed the family of a man with the same name.

Nov. 15 – 7:11 A.M. Palestinians report several people were lightly wounded, and damage caused to property in Khan Younis and Rafah, in Southern Gaza overnight

Nov. 15 – 12:53 A.M. Military says it struck Islamic Jihad positions in the Gaza Strip

Nov. 14 – 10:14 P.M. Hours after the cease-fire was declared, five rockets were launched from the coastal enclave, with two of them intercepted in southern Israel, the army said.

IDF reportedly said that they views the violation of the cease-fire as “very severe.”

Nov. 14 – 10:02 P.M. Rocket sirens sounded in Israeli communities near Gaza border and Sderot.