Israeli snipers shot and killed two brothers as they crawled towards a hospital in Gaza seeking medical help, a harrowing new investigation has found.
Husam, 27 and Saad al-Aweini, 22, were carrying their wounded brother Abdullah towards Nasser Hospital when they were shot at multiple times by Israeli forces who were laying siege to the southern city of Khan Younis.
Abdullah, 29, had earlier been injured by a missile strike on his home while gathering clothes for his wife and son. All three of the brothers were left to bleed to death on the ground for days as gunfire rang out around them.
The incident has been brought to light by an investigation by human rights organisation Euro-Med Monitor, which says the targeting of the family constitutes a possible war crime. Israel has faced international outrage over the high civilian death toll during its war in Gaza, but denies accusations of war crimes or genocide.
More than two years after the incident, the parents of the three brothers continue to search for answers as to why they were targeted. They remain in the dark over how a one-minute walk from their home to the hospital for urgent treatment resulted in the deaths of their sons.
The Independent contacted the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) with several questions regarding the death of the brothers and Euro-Med Monitor’s investigation. We provided them with geographical coordinates of a strike on the family home and a 25-page report that included satellite imagery and eyewitness testimony.
In response, a spokesperson said the incident was “not known to the IDF” and that further details would be required to provide clarity. They did not specify what further information would be required. The IDF also could not confirm whether it holds records of each of its operations.
How the Khan Younis shooting unfolded
On 11 February 2024 at around 11am, a missile struck the upper level of the home of the al-Aweini family while they prepared food on the first floor. Abdullah, who was upstairs, suffered a serious injury to the abdomen in the attack.
Ibrahim al-Aweini, 56, the father of the brothers, went upstairs to check on his son and recalls being filmed by a quadcopter drone before being shot at multiple times in the open stairwell of their home. He suffered shrapnel injuries to the head and back as a result and lost consciousness.
“The quadcopter was 30 or 40 centimetres away from my face,” he tells The Independent. “When it filmed me, I felt reassured because I was a civilian and it shouldn’t fire at me. But it did.”
By this point, Abdullah had lost consciousness downstairs. His family made immediate plans to take him to the nearby Nasser Hospital. Abdullah’s brothers Husam and Saad, and surviving siblings Hassan, 33, and Anas, 16, all rushed to carry him to help.
Researchers at Euro-Med Monitor used satellite imagery and topographic maps to pinpoint the building’s exact location and measure the distance to the hospital, which they determined to be no more than 100 metres.
Husam and Saad held Abdullah by his head and arms, while Hassan – a nurse at the hospital – and Anas took hold of the lower half of his body. Eyewitnesses, including the surviving brothers, described the moment they came under direct fire.
“We walked a short distance along a side street and reached the main road, about 15 metres from the hospital wall,” Anas said. “As soon as we crossed the main road, we came under direct fire. Husam and Saad fell, dropping Abdullah, while Hassan and I, closer to the side street, quickly retreated. All of this happened within a very short time.”
Hassan described the moment he saw his brothers asking for their help: “I saw my three brothers lying on the ground; one was still moving and asking for help, but I was powerless to help him.”
‘My sons are gone’
Witnesses report seeing Husam and Saad attempting to crawl multiple times while bleeding. They continued to be shot by what are believed to be Israeli snipers.
Euro-Med Monitor examined sight lines from nearby elevated structures to assess possible firing angles and compared these with injury sites.
Mohammad H, 35, a neighbour who witnessed the incident, said: “As they tried to cross the main road, they came under direct fire. I watched Hassan and Anas quickly retreat, ducking to avoid the bullets. Husam and Saad attempted to crawl after being hit, but they were shot again.
“I didn’t approach Husam and Saad because I realised there were snipers on the rooftops. At the same time, I saw their father, Ibrahim, covered in blood from head to toe, shouting loudly: ‘My sons are gone.’”
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Their mother, Tahani al-Aweini, 55, rushed outside after hearing gunfire and was told by Hassan to go back. She told The Independent of the devastating moment that she saw her child call for her while he lay dying and bleeding.
“He was ushering for me with his hand,” she says of her son, Saad. “He was pleading for me to come and help him. Before I got out of the house, I had shards of glass on my head and he helped me remove it. He helped me, but I couldn’t help him.”
She refused to stay and navigated an indirect route to get to the hospital’s medical complex. During the journey, she was shot but made it to the hospital, where she remained for four days.
Dr Atef al-Hout, director of the Nasser Medical Complex, recalls Tahani “bleeding from her foot and crying heavily”.
“She told me: ‘My three sons are lying beside the eastern wall of the hospital.’”
He went on: “At the time, we did not know the fate of the young men, whether they were wounded or already dead. In any case, we were unable to provide any service or medical assistance because the situation was extremely dangerous.
“Any movement outside the hospital buildings could expose the staff to death. Israeli army snipers were deployed on top of UNRWA schools, on the Austrian Towers, and on residential buildings in the area.”
Opening up about the impact of their deaths, he says: “Honestly, I wept for the mother’s tears. I felt powerless to offer them any help. While our humanitarian duty is to rescue, treat, and provide healthcare, the machinery of war and the spread of snipers prevented us from doing anything.”
A hospital under siege
The bodies of the three brothers lay outside the hospital walls for four days as the Israeli army laid siege to the Nasser Medical Complex in one of the most controversial military operations in its history.
Several reports at the time, including by Medecins Sans Frontieres, documented the presence of Israeli snipers on surrounding buildings targeting the hospital area. These soldiers killed and injured several people before Israel ordered an evacuation on 14 February.
The presence of snipers in the area at the time is also well documented in reports by aid workers, agencies, rights groups, and medical staff.
The bodies of the al-Aweini brothers were lost after the Israeli army swept through the area with bulldozers.
“We recently received information indicating that some bodies may have been retrieved by Civil Defence following the withdrawal of Israeli forces,” says Maha Hussaini, director at Euro-Med Monitor.
“While this information emerged after the completion of our investigation, we are in the process of verifying these reports with the Civil Defence and the Forensic Medicine Department and will provide a confirmed update once the details are fully substantiated.”
Euro-Med Monitor interviewed witnesses and neighbours, and researchers confirmed that the brothers were civilians and had no political affiliations. The IDF did not shed further light on why the brothers may have been a target.
“We are a simple family,” says Tahani. “Our priority for our children was an education.”
The report concluded: “This shows an intent to harm civilians not involved in fighting, clearly classifying the incident as a full-fledged war crime rather than collateral damage.
“Additionally, the sudden attack without warning violates the precautionary principle, which requires the attacking force to take all possible steps to prevent or minimise civilian casualties.”
It adds: “When considered in the context of the siege of the Nasser Medical Complex and the material facts outlined above, the targeting of the al-Aweini family exemplifies a clear case of genocide elements in Gaza.”
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