“Her leg is bleeding. Carry her from below… slowly and avoid the gas cylinder… let’s get out of here, pull!” a man shouted.
It was 20 February and an aid shelter in Gaza occupied by Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, had been struck.
Inside, the atmosphere was chaotic. People rushed to try to put a fire out in one of the building’s rooms, as others helped another person laying on the floor.
The attack on the medical facility, which was housing 64 people including MSF drivers and their families, killed two people and injured seven others.
Using on-the-ground footage, open-source techniques and interviews with witnesses and weapons experts, a Sky News investigation has pieced together how the incident unfolded and the evidence and experts we’ve spoken to suggest it was struck by an Israeli tank round.
As a result of our investigation, the Israeli army (IDF) said it is conducting its own “examination” into the incident.
It said its forces “fired at a building that was identified as a building where terror activity is occurring”. However, it has not so far provided evidence for this claim.
The statement added: “After the incident, reports were received of the death of two uninvolved civilians in the area. The IDF regrets any harm to civilians and does everything in its power to operate in a precise and accurate manner.” It said an investigation had been launched.
The attack
The MSF shelter is located in a sparsely populated coastal area in Mawasi, south-western Gaza, around 6km northwest of the southern city of Khan Yunis.
Sky News spoke to five witnesses inside and outside the shelter and our team on the ground visited the site. The aid organisation said the contracted building was used to shelter its drivers and their families.
Two witnesses – who wish to remain anonymous and were inside the shelter – said on the night of 20 February, families were sitting inside talking before the attack took place at around 8pm.
One witness said they suddenly heard “loud noises” which sounded like a tank track. They ran to the shelter’s entrance to close it and turn off the exterior lights.
“The loud noises were getting louder as the tanks were getting closer to our shelter… And by the time I got back to the designated place… the whole building was shaking violently,” they said.
Witness ‘saw fire light up’
Another witness, a cousin of the landlord who owned the building and was sheltering at a relative’s house nearby at the time of the attack, said he also heard the “sound of tanks and gunshots” and lay on the floor.
Jihad al-Agha said he saw “fire light up” inside the MSF building and believes tanks were “roughly 20 metres away” from where he was.
He said the ground and first floor of the building were being used by MSF while members of the landlord’s family were living on the top floor.
Another neighbour also heard “sounds of the tanks and gunshots” at around 8.30pm.
Abu Hashem al-Aghar said after the attack, he left his house and “went towards the sound of women and children’s screams, saved them from the inside, the fire”.
He said he took the injured into his home and looked after them until emergency services arrived around two hours later.
A projectile enters the shelter
Sky News visited the site and obtained and analysed a trove of images and videos following the incident and corroborated them with witness testimony and expert analysis to help piece together what happened.
An image of the exterior of the building suggests that a projectile entered from the south-west facing central window on the first floor of the MSF shelter.
The picture above shows a circular hole in the top corner of one of the windows. Inside this room, a damage pattern can be seen on the ceiling – another indication that the projectile came through the window.
Using the images, Amael Kotlarski, Weapons Team Manager at Janes, a defence intelligence firm, told Sky News: “I’d say whatever came through the window, came from an upward angle and detonated either on impact with the roof, or air bursted just below it. Given the damage on the roof, I’m inclined to the latter rather than the former.”
He said the damage on the dividing wall next to the window suggests it was “blown outwards”. Based on the imagery we have seen; we identified only one entry point of this kind.
Videos filmed from inside and outside the shelter show a fire in one of the north-facing rooms of the first floor.
Witnesses and MSF said a gas canister was hit after the building was struck and caught fire.
A gas canister can be seen in the same room in aftermath imagery. However, we are unable to verify the exact cause of the fire.
What hit the building?
Former British army artillery officer and director of Chiron Resources, Chris Cobb-Smith said that given the upward trajectory of the projectile by the window, it would also “appear that the shot was fired at relatively close range”. Sky News has been unable to determine the exact distance the projectile was launched from.
“It’s difficult to draw definitive conclusions merely from imagery however I believe the damage is the result of a tank round being fired directly into the building.
“Only a tank shell would cause that type of damage. Only a tank would have the ability to launch a projectile at that range and at that trajectory and bearing.”
A collection of fragments was also pictured inside the building.
Mr Kotlarski said two types of fragments can be observed one with pre-scoring (in yellow) which are “likely to be from the shell body itself” while the small balls (in orange) are “pre-formed fragments which are likely to be stored in a matrix inside the warhead section of the shell”.
He added that the size and thickness of these indicates they “likely come from a large calibre munition”.
‘Consistent’ with tank round
Mr Cobb-Smith said the remnants are “consistent” with those of an “expended tank round” – adding that they are similar to those he has personally recovered in 2009 and 2012 while investigating the aftereffects of tank shell strikes.
He added he is “unaware of any direct fire weapons of this calibre being operated by Hamas” and that he is “doubtful that anything of this size would have been able to be deployed and fired with the amount of IDF activity in the area”.
Alongside the projectile, witnesses and MSF also told Sky News that gunfire was heard during the attack – one witness said they heard “many bullets” while on the ground floor before they said the building was hit.
MSF general director Meinie Nicolai, who visited the site soon after the attack, said bullets were fired at the front of the shelter.
Israeli presence that day
On the day of the attack, the Israeli army said on its Telegram channel that its forces were “operating” in northern, central and southern Gaza Strip and continuing “intensive operations in western Khan Younis”.
But it did not say its forces were operating in the immediate area around the shelter.
The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee, published an evacuation map on 20 February of two neighbourhoods further north in and around Gaza city. But this did not cover the area where the shelter is located.
X
This content is provided by X, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable X cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to X cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow X cookies for this session only.
Following the attack, witnesses and MSF said emergency services arrived at the scene at least two-and-a-half hours after the incident due to security concerns.
The injured were then taken to hospital.
Those killed were the wife and daughter-in-law of an MSF staff member – while the injured included four women aged 74, 29, 20 and 16 alongside twin girls – a year-and-a-half old, and a 30-year-old man. All but one of those injured were from the same family.
Ms Nicolai told Sky News she was “perplexed” by the attack on the facility.
The organisation said: “The shelter was used by humanitarian personnel and their family members, identified by an MSF flag, and notified to the Israeli authorities. We refute any allegations of terror activity occurring in MSF-run structures. It is a civilian space, and this shows that nowhere is safe.”
Ms Nicolai told Sky News that she thinks an Israeli tank fired at the building
“It seems it is a shell that was shot from a tank. And that would be an Israeli tank. So, I think, the Israeli forces are responsible,” she said.
MSF based their own conclusion on independent weapons experts who surveyed the scene and said they believe the “fragments of the shell that were recovered match the characteristics of ammunition that Israeli Merkava tanks are known to use” and spoke to colleagues who witnessed the attack. Sky News was not able to determine the exact weapon that was used.
‘No evacuation order’ issued before attack
MSF said the attack was also concerning as “no evacuation order” was issued for the building and they claimed Israeli forces knew that the building was used by MSF.
The aid organisation said Israeli forces have been “clearly informed of the precise location” of the shelter.
MSF told Sky News: “Despite the deconfliction procedures agreed with the Israeli authorities, MSF had not received any notification nor warning for evacuation prior to the attack on its shelter.”
Ms Nicolai added: “Israel has reconfirmed they had the coordinates of this building.”
The Israeli army did not respond to a Sky News request for comment on whether they knew the coordinates of the shelter.
Flagged building
An MSF flag outside the building indicated that it was used by MSF as a medical facility. Sky News obtained images taken the day after the attack showing the flag outside the building’s entrance. Our Gaza team has since visited the site and seen the flag outside the building.
International law
Hospitals and, in general, medical facilities, are given special protections under international humanitarian law meaning they cannot be attacked.
Oona Hathaway, an international law professor at Yale Law School said these facilities are “presumed to be civilian objects and not subject to targeting during armed conflict”. She said these protections also cover medical staff and those “playing a role in providing medical support”.
She added: “They can lose that status if they are used for military purposes”, but added there must be a “demonstration” that they have been used for those military purposes “before any kind of attack is permissible against a medical facility”.
Ms Hathaway said that if the Israeli army was responsible for the attack and intentionally targeted a civilian object then it is “potentially a war crime”.
She said: “There are a number of questions that are going to have to be asked. So first is did they, in fact have a legitimate military objective? What was the intelligence that they had, if any, or reason to believe that they had, that this was being used for military purposes?
“If they didn’t have that information, if they didn’t know that was being used for military purposes, then it isn’t a legitimate military objective. And then if they’re intentionally targeting a civilian object, in particular a civilian object that’s being used by military, by medical personnel, that is a violation of the Geneva Conventions and potentially a war crime.”
In response to our investigation, the Israeli army said: “During operational activity in Khan Yunis, the IDF forces fired at a building that was identified as a building where terror activity is occurring. After the incident, reports were received of the death of two uninvolved civilians in the area.
“The IDF regrets any harm to civilians and does everything in its power to operate in a precise and accurate manner in the combat field.
“As part of the lesson learn process the IDF conducts during the combats, the IDF began an examination of the incident.”
It added that the incident would be examined by the Israeli Army’s General Staff’s Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism – which it says is an “independent” body responsible for examining exceptional events that take place during war.
Editorial: Adam Parker, OSINT editor, Natasha Muktarsingh, assistant editor Data & Forensics, Chris Howard, editor Data & Forensics
Additional reporting: Tom Cheshire, Data & Forensics correspondent and Sky News team in Gaza
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
A well-known Iraqi social media influencer has reportedly been shot dead in her car by a gunman on a motorbike.
Om Fahad, whose real name is Ghufran Sawadi, was killed outside her home in Baghdad’s Zayouna district on Friday, according to the AFP news agency, citing security officials.
It appears the unidentified attacker pretended to be delivering food to the victim, one security source said.
Om Fahad, who has nearly half a million TikTok followers, became famous for posting light-hearted videos where she dances to Iraqi music.
TikTok
This content is provided by TikTok, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable TikTok cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to TikTok cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow TikTok cookies for this session only.
Six days ago, she shared footage of herself driving in a car and also posing in front of a mirror. They have each been watched hundreds of thousands of times.
The influencer was sentenced to six months in prison in February last year for sharing videos that a court ruled contained “indecent speech that undermines modesty and public morality”.
TikTok
This content is provided by TikTok, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable TikTok cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to TikTok cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow TikTok cookies for this session only.
A campaign was launched in 2023 by the Iraqi government to clamp down on social media content which broke the country’s “morals and traditions”.
The interior ministry set up a committee to look for “offensive” clips on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, with several influencers being arrested.
“This type of content is no less dangerous than organised crime,” the ministry declared in a promotional video which asked the public to help by reporting such content.
Advertisement
“It is one of the causes of the destruction of the Iraqi family and society.”
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
In 2018, gunmen in Baghdad shot dead Tara Fares, who was a model and influencer.
After years of war and sectarian conflict following the 2003 US invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq has returned to some semblance of normality despite sporadic violence, political instability and corruption.
But civil liberties, particularly among women and sexual minorities, are still constrained in a conservative and male-dominated society.
The family of a missing high school student who may have been the first victim of a suspected serial killer in Mexico City have protested at the site where bones were found last week.
The bones were discovered with the belongings of at least six women, police said, and Amairany Roblero’s relatives have been told that evidence was found relating to her 2012 disappearance.
Ms Roblero was 18 when she vanished and, as is often the case in Mexico, her family was left to investigate her disappearance with little help from prosecutors.
Family friend Alejandra Jimenez said: “The prosecutors had the case file but they didn’t ever give any results to her parents.”
Instead, her parents printed flyers and gave them out near her school – the last place she was seen – but they had “nothing, nowhere to start, nor any directions to the end”, Ms Jimenez added.
A suspect, identified only by his first name, Miguel, was detained by neighbours and police last week after he is alleged to have killed a seventh young woman.
He is accused of waiting for a woman to leave her apartment and then rushing inside to sexually abuse and strangle her 17-year-old daughter.
More on Mexico
Related Topics:
The woman returned to the apartment to see the suspect leaving and she was slashed across her neck before he ran off.
She survived but her daughter died.
Investigators searched a room rented by the suspect and found bones, mobile phones and ID cards belonging to several women in the same block, thought to be mementos.
Miguel is awaiting trial on charges of murder and attempted murder relating to the most recent victims.
City prosecutor Ulises Lara insisted the suspect was difficult to catch because “he showed no signs of violent or aggressive behaviour in his daily life”.
Ms Roblero’s family and friends were not accepting this, however.
“They (authorities) have all the means to look for missing people,” Ms Jimenez said. “Instead of focusing on their political campaigns, they should help all the women who are looking for their children.”
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Juan Carlos Gutierrez, a lawyer representing the family of another victim, was also frustrated, asking why no investigation had never been launched in that case, despite missing person reports being filed in 2015.
Ms Jimenez said Ms Roblero’s family had not been told which of the items or remains in the apartment had been linked to her, adding: “This is wearing her parents down physically, mentally.”
Some 2,580 women were murdered in Mexico in 2023, according to the country’s National Public Security System but poorly funded and badly trained prosecutors have failed to stop serial killers over the years.
In 2021 a serial killer in Mexico City killed 19 people but their bodies were only found, buried at his house, after the wife of a police commander became one of the victims.
In 2018 another serial killer in Mexico City murdered at least 10 women and was only stopped after he was seen pushing a dismembered body down the street in a pram.