Gaza: The children killed in Israel's assault, named

Harrowing images have been surfacing from the Gaza Strip since Israel’s offensive in the besieged enclave started on 9 May.

Residential buildings have crumbled to the ground as Israeli shelling continued on, with families left in the streets. 

Children have been some of the worst affected, with at least seven children amongst the 33 Palestinians killed. 

In videos circulating online, children are shown weeping in fear as the sound of shelling continues above them, while others search through the rubble of their homes for loved ones and their possessions. 

So far, over 500 residential units have been damaged, while civilians describe the fear of the ground shaking beneath them.  

Here, we take a look at the children killed in the offensive*

Mayar Tariq Ibrahim Ezz el-Din, aged 11

Mayar Tariq Ibrahim Ezz el-Din was killed on 9 May 2023 in Gaza City. She was 11 years old. 

Mayar, and her brother Ali, are the children of Tareq Ibrahim Ezz el-Din, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) military commander.

The family were sleeping when an Israeli fighter jet targeted the entire floor of their residential building in al-Remal neighbourhood in the centre of Gaza City.

Fifteen Palestinians were killed in the attack, including three PIJ members, four children, and four women.

Over 20 others were wounded, including three children and seven women, some of whom are in serious and critical condition, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

Ali Tariq Ibrahim Ezz el-Din, aged nine

Ali Tariq Ibrahim Ezz el-Din was killed with his sister Mayar on 9 May 2023 in Gaza City. He was nine years old.

Ali, along with his sister, had bought sweets and prepared his clothes, excited for the next day, where he was joining a school trip before he was killed. 

Online, social media users shared photos of the siblings during happy celebrations and mourned the loss of them. 

The attack has left the family’s home completely destroyed, as well as the surrounding housing units. 
 

Hajar Khalil Salah el-Bahtini, aged five

Hajar Khalil Salah el-Bahtini, five, was killed on 9 May 2023 in Gaza City alongside her 44-year-old mother, Layla al-Bahtini. She is the daughter of Al-Quds Brigades commander Khalil al-Bahtini who was also killed in the raid that targeted their home.

Many have shared photos of Hajar at school, and condemned Israel for targeting children in the attacks. 

Eyewitnesses that have spoken to Middle East Eye have described a sense of fear among children, who are also showing signs of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Schools have also been shut as young children mourn their peers and many buildings have sustained heavy damage. 
 

Layan Bilal Maddoukh, aged eight

Layan Bilal Maddoukh, eight, was killed on 10 May 2023 in an Israeli raid that hit residential buildings in al-Sahaba Street in Gaza City.

Tamim Mohamed Dawoud, aged four

Tamim Mohamed Daoud, four, died of a panic attack as a result of an Israeli air strike on his neighbourhood in Gaza on 10 May 2023, his father told Middle East Eye.

Iman Adas, aged 17 

Iman was killed along with her older sister Dania, who was just days away from her wedding. 

The sisters were killed in an air strike that targeted their neighbour’s home in the early hours of the morning. 

The walls of their home turned into a mountain of rubble, with their belongings peeking through the shards of glass and stone. 

Yazan Jawdat Elayyan, aged 16

Elayyan’s home was completely destroyed in an airstrike, where he sustained fatal injuries.

Hundreds of people joined a funeral procession for the teenager, where they mourned his loss. 

Witnesses told local news agencies that they were asleep when the deafening sound of air strikes struck, and Elayyan’s home came crumbling down. 

“Me and my wife were sleeping when we heard the sound and the kids jumped up," one witness described to local media.

"We looked outside to see the building covered in smoke and fully destroyed. Everything was shaking…there was no prior warning for people to leave."

*Photo credits: Social media.