Overview
- On November 12-14, 2019, a round of escalation took place in the Gaza Strip following the killing of Bahaa Abu al-Atta, a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). In response to his killing, the PIJ fired about 560 rockets to Israeli territory. The IDF attacked terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip, mostly belonging to the PIJ. Among the attacked targets were rocket launching squads before and after a launch; rocket launching sites; weapons depots; a plant for manufacturing long-distance rockets; training compounds; outposts; operations rooms and observation posts, as well as underground facilities of the PIJ.
Photo of Bahaa Abu al-Atta published on the website of the PIJ’s military wing. The text underneath his photo reads, “The campaign continues and the account is open”
(Al-Quds Brigades website, November 17, 2019).
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip reported that 34 Palestinians had been killed in the latest round of escalation (with Bahaa Abu al-Atta and his wife among them). From within the 34 killed Palestinians, at least 18 (about 53%) were identified as military operatives, most of them (13) operatives of the PIJ’s military wing, who were the targets in most of the attacks. In addition, several fatalities were identified as belonging to minor terror networks, most of them operatives of Fatah splinter networks who took part in firing at Israel. Among the fatalities, there was a prominent number of operatives of the rocket launching network, who were killed while attempting to fire at Israel (which is an indication of the efficiency of the Israeli security forces in thwarting the firing attacks). In addition, nine civilians were killed, most of them members of one family in Deir al-Balah, whose home was attacked by the IDF as a result of mistaken identification (the case is under an IDF examination). A Hamas military operative was also killed, and another operative affiliated with Hamas. The large number of PIJ operatives who were killed reflects its central role in the last round of escalation (while Hamas refrained from joining the fighting).
- Following are the main findings of a preliminary examination of the identity of the fatalities:
- Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ): A total of 13 fatalities were identified as PIJ operatives, all of them operatives of the PIJ’s military wing (prominent among them was the number of operatives killed during attempts to fire rockets at Israel).
- Hamas: Two Hamas operatives were identified. One of them was identified as an operative of Hamas’s military wing. Another operative is either affiliated with Hamas or a member of a family affiliated with Hamas (his body was wrapped in the Hamas flag).
- Fatah splinter networks: Three fatalities were identified as operatives of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades / Nidal al-Amoudi Brigade (a Fatah splinter network which apparently actively participated in the fighting).
- Fatah: Two fatalities were identified as Fatah members.
- Popular Resistance Committees (PRC): Two operatives were identified as PRC operatives who apparently actively participated in the fighting.
- Non-identified: Regarding three of the fatalities, so far it was not possible to unequivocally determine whether they were terrorist operatives or civilians.
- Civilians: At least nine civilians were killed in the attack. Seven of them were killed in an attack in Deir al-Balah as a result of mistaken identification of the house that was attacked.
Summary of the identity of the fatalities
(according to the ITIC’s initial examination)
| Organization | Military wing |
Affiliated with the organization |
Total killed |
|
PIJ |
13, including Bahaa al-Atta |
13 |
|
|
Hamas |
One military wing operative |
Two affiliated with Hamas |
2 |
|
Fatah |
Two (one of them was identified as former member of Force 17 – the Presidential Guard) |
2 |
|
|
PRC |
Two military wing operatives |
2 |
|
|
Fatah splinter groups |
Three operatives of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades / Nidal al-Amoudi Brigade |
3 |
|
|
Non-identified |
3 |
3 |
|
|
Civilians |
Nine (including the wife of Bahaa al-Atta) |
9 |
|
|
Total |
34 fatalities |
Basic information on the fatalities
(findings of a preliminary examination)
|
Name |
Gender |
Age |
Circumstances of death |
Organizational affiliation |
|
|
1 |
Bahaa Salim Hassan Abu al-Atta (Abu Salim) |
Male |
42 |
Died in a targeted killing on November 12, 2019, at his home in Al-Shejaiyah |
The PIJ’s military wing |
|
2 |
Ibrahim Ahmed Abdul Latif al-Dabous |
Male |
26 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 12, 2019 |
The PIJ’s military wing |
|
3 |
Zaki Adnan Mohammad Ghanameh |
Male |
25 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 12, 2019 |
The PIJ’s military wing |
|
4 |
Abdullah Awad Sakib al-Bilbeisi |
Male |
26 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 12, 2019 |
The PIJ’s military wing |
|
5 |
Abdul Salam Ramadan Ahmed Ahmed |
Male |
28 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 12, 2019 |
The PIJ’s military wing |
|
6 |
Khaled Moawad Salem Farraj |
Male |
38 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 13, 2019 |
The PIJ’s military wing |
|
7 |
Ala Jabr Abdul Shteiwi |
Male |
30 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 13, 2019 |
The PIJ’s military wing |
|
8 |
Suhail Khader Khalil Quneitah |
Male |
28 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 13, 2019, in Al-Tuffah |
The PIJ’s military wing |
|
9 |
Mahmoud Daham Mahmoud Huthot |
Male |
19 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 13, 2019, in Al-Tuffah |
The PIJ’s military wing |
|
10 |
Momen Mohammed Salman Qaddum |
Male |
26 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 13, 2019, in Al-Shejaiyah |
The PIJ’s military wing |
|
11 |
Mohammed Abdullah Suleiman Shurrab |
Male |
28 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 13, 2019, in Khan Younes |
The PIJ’s military wing |
|
12 |
Haitham Hafez Mohammed al-Bakri |
Male |
22 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 13, 2019, in Khan Younes |
The PIJ’s military wing |
|
13 |
Yousef Rizk Khalil Abu Kamil |
Male |
35 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 13, 2019, in Al-Tuffah |
The PIJ’s military wing |
|
14 |
Islam Raafat Mohammed Ayad |
Male |
24 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 13, 2019, in Al-Zeitoun |
Affiliated with Hamas. His body was wrapped in the Hamas flag |
|
15 |
Amir Raafat Mohammed Ayad |
Male |
7 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 13, 2019, in Al-Zeitoun |
Boy |
|
16 |
Ibrahim Ayman Fathi Abdel Aal |
Male |
17 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 12, 2019, in Al-Tuffah |
Non-identified |
|
17 |
Ismail Ayman Fathi Abdel Aal |
Male |
16 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 13, 2019, in Al-Tuffah |
Non-identified |
|
18 |
Ahmed Ayman Fathi Abdel Aal |
Male |
23 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 13, 2019, in Al-Tuffah |
Hamas’s military wing |
|
19 |
Mohammed Hassan Mohammed Moammar |
Male |
25 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 13, 2019, in east Rafah |
Popular Resistance Committees’ military wing |
|
20 |
Ahmed Hassan Yousef al-Kurdi |
Male |
28 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 12, 2019, in east Rafah |
Popular Resistance Committees’ military wing |
|
21 |
Mohammed Attia Musleh Hamouda |
Male |
20 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 12, 2019, in west Beit Lahiya |
Affiliated with Fatah |
|
22 |
Raafat Mohammed Salman Ayad |
Male |
54 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 13, 2019, in Al-Zeitoun |
Former officer in Fatah’s Force 17 (Presidential Guard) |
|
23 |
Wael Abdul Aziz Abdullah Abdul Nabi |
Male |
43 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 12, 2019, in Beit Lahiya |
Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades / Nidal al-Amoudi Brigade (Fatah splinter network) |
|
24 |
Rani Fayez Ragab Abu Nasr (Abu Osama) |
Male |
35 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 12, 2019, in Beit Lahiya |
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades / Nidal al-Amoudi Brigade (Fatah splinter network) |
|
25 |
Jihad Ayman Ahmed Abu Khater |
Male |
22 |
Killed in an IDF attack on November 12, 2019, in Beit Lahiya |
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades / Nidal al-Amoudi Brigade (Fatah splinter network) |
|
26 |
Asma Mohammed Hassan Abu Atta |
Female |
39 |
Bahaa Abu al-Atta’s wife; died in his targeted killing |
Civilian |
|
27 |
Rasmi Salem Odeh al-Sawarkah (also referred to as Rasmi Abu Malhous) |
Male |
45 |
Killed by mistake in an attack on the house of Abu Malhous in Deir al-Balah |
Unclear whether affiliated with the PIJ or Fatah |
|
28 |
Maryam Salem Nasser al-Sawarkah |
Female |
45 |
Killed by mistake in an attack on the house of Abu Malhous in Deir al-Balah |
Civilian |
|
29 |
Yousra Mohammed Awwad al-Sawarkah |
Female |
39 |
Killed by mistake in an attack on the house in Deir al-Balah |
Civilian |
|
30 |
Muath Mohammed Salem al-Sawarkah |
Male |
7 |
Killed by mistake in an attack on the house in Deir al-Balah |
Civilian |
|
31 |
Wasim Mohammed Salem al-Sawarkah |
Male |
13 |
Killed by mistake in an attack on the house in Deir al-Balah |
Civilian |
|
32 |
Muhannad Rasmi Salem Al-Sawarkah |
Male |
12 |
Killed by mistake in an attack on the house in Deir al-Balah |
Boy |
|
33 |
Firas Rasmi al-Sawarkah |
Male |
Boy |
Killed by mistake in an attack on the house in Deir al-Balah |
Boy |
|
34 |
Salem Rasmi al-Sawarkah |
Male |
Boy |
Killed by mistake in an attack on the house in Deir al-Balah |
Boy |
