At about 1:28 a.m. local time on Saturday, October 3, Israeli fighter jets struck the al-Asala apartment building in the Remal neighborhood of western Gaza City. Health and civil defense officials said at least five people were killed and at least six others severely wounded. No warning was issued before the attack.
Al Jazeera correspondent Hani al-Shaer, reporting from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, said witnesses heard fighter jets growing louder overhead, followed by three explosions that slammed into the apartment while residents were asleep. The blast tore through the targeted floor and ripped into the floors below, causing extensive damage throughout the multi-story building. Fires burned for about an hour before Palestinian civil defense crews managed to extinguish them. Search teams were still combing the rubble for the missing, and the death toll could rise.
Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said four of the five dead were women, including an elderly Christian woman and her daughter. Medics and the church identified them as Maisa Abu Dawoud and her daughter Mary. Palestinian media also reported that a 21-year-old man was killed, which would bring the toll to six. A young man with Down syndrome was reported among the wounded.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem issued a statement mourning Maisa Abu Dawoud and Mary. Friends and relatives, Muslims and Christians alike, gathered at the Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City for their funeral. Christians make up only about 1 percent of Gaza's population of more than two million.
The Israeli military later said it had carried out an overnight strike on an apartment in Gaza in an attempt to kill Ali al-Amoudi, whom Hamas sources describe as the head of Hamas's political office in Gaza. It was not immediately clear whether that was the same strike that killed the five Palestinians; the military said the results of the strike were under review, and Hamas did not immediately comment.
Israel says Hamas has been rearming and launching attacks in violation of the ceasefire, and has stepped up strikes on the group in recent weeks. Hamas has denied trying to carry out attacks or rebuild its arsenal, accusing Israel of undermining the Gaza peace deal.
Last year's U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire was meant to pave the way for the territory's eventual reconstruction, but negotiators have made little progress toward terms for Hamas to disarm and Israel to fully withdraw its troops. Gaza health officials estimate that at least 1,400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since last October's ceasefire; Israel says four of its soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.
Eyewitness Ahmed al-Dahdouh told Reuters: "We were asleep and suddenly heard continuous strikes and heavy explosions. The children woke up startled and started running and screaming. We ran out and found that our neighbor's house was struck, and the martyrs, women, men and children, were scattered under the rubble. We started to pull them out." The Muslim resident said of the slain Christian mother and daughter: "These are our Christian brethren, who are not involved in anything. They are peaceful people, and everybody loves them."
Remal is one of Gaza City's most densely populated districts, where thousands of displaced people are sheltering in makeshift camps. As civil defense crews worked the rubble, Israeli drones remained overhead and fighter jets could be heard flying low across the Strip — a sound the neighborhood will not soon forget.