Engineer's Building airstrike

On 31 October 2023, at about 2:30 pm, the Israel Defense Forces struck a residential building in the Gaza Strip known as the Engineer's Building during its operations in the Gaza war. Four aerial munitions hit the structure within about 10 seconds of each other, resulting in its total destruction. At the time, at least 350 people were reportedly sheltering in the building, including at least 150 who had fled other parts of Gaza due to earlier Israeli attacks.

Survivors described the attack. Hatem Abdo, whose son was killed while playing football near the building, said he saw the northern side of the building hit first, followed almost immediately by a second strike on the southern side, which caused debris to fall and trap about 20 children and adults in the street. Ameera Shaheen, who said she lost 20 relatives in the strike, described the building as calm and full of civilians moments before the attack, with no warning of danger.

Casualty figures vary by source. Human Rights Watch identified 106 individuals killed, including at least 34 women, 18 men, and 54 children. Victims were reported to come from 22 families, with the Abu Said family said to have lost 23 relatives. Some of the dead were reported to be children playing football outside the building and residents charging phones in a first-floor grocery store. A separate investigation by Airwars identified 133 casualties from 14 families and estimated a total range of 133 to 164 casualties, of which an estimated 67 to 77 were children, noting many bodies remained buried under rubble. The overall total number of Palestinians killed in the attack remains unknown.

A Human Rights Watch investigation, published on 4 April 2024, concluded that the strike had no apparent militant target, finding it "unlawfully indiscriminate under the laws of war." The organization stated that it requested justification for the strike from Israeli authorities but received none. The investigation drew on survivor interviews and analysis of satellite imagery, photographs, and videos, but researchers were unable to enter Gaza to conduct on-the-ground inspection due to Israeli control of the border.

Human Rights Watch called on all countries to suspend military assistance and arms sales to Israel so long as its forces commit what the organization described as systematic and widespread violations of the laws of war against Palestinian civilians, stating that governments continuing to supply arms risk complicity in war crimes. The organization also urged an International Criminal Court inquiry into serious crimes committed during the conflict.