Latest news with #YaqeenHammad
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- Health
- The Guardian
One afternoon in Gaza, two family tragedies: the childhoods cut short by Israeli airstrikes
At about 3pm last Friday, Dr Alaa al-Najjar, a paediatrician at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, received the charred remains of seven of her 10 children, killed in an Israeli airstrike. The bodies of two others were buried beneath the rubble. A few miles away, 11-year-old Yaqeen Hammad, known as Gaza's youngest social media influencer, was killed after a series of heavy Israeli airstrikes hit the house where she lived with her family. She was watering flowers in a tiny patch of greenery eked out of a displacement camp when she died. Her cousin, 16-year-old Eyad, was gravely wounded. Even by the terrible standards of the Gaza conflict, the deaths had the power to shock. But they were also a reflection of a daily reality in the territory: the killing and maiming of its very youngest citizens and the destruction of a young generation. According to local health officials, whose estimates have generally been found to be accurate by the global humanitarian community, more than 16,500 children have been killed in the 19 months since the war began – a figure almost 24 times higher than the number of children killed in Ukraine, where the population is 20 times bigger, since Russia's invasion. The World Health Organization tally for child deaths stands at 15,613. Colleagues of Najjar say that in the days since she lost her children she has spent her waking hours weeping outside a room in Nasser hospital. Inside lies her only surviving child, 11-year-old Adam, who is clinging to life with the help of a ventilator, his breathing shallow and his more than 60% of his body covered in burns. Najjar's husband, Hamdi, a 40-year-old physician, also survived the strike, but suffered severe injuries including brain damage and fractures caused by shrapnel. Reached by the Guardian, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said 'the Khan Younis area is a dangerous war zone' and that 'the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review'. Speaking to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Adam's uncle, Ali al-Najjar, 50, issued a desperate plea: 'Adam must be taken away, to a real hospital, outside Gaza. I beg the Italian government – do something. Take him. Save him, Italians.' On Thursday, Italy's foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said the country was ready to receive Adam for medical care and was working to arrange his evacuation. Along a corridor in the same hospital where Adam is being treated lies Eyad. His father – and Yaqeen's uncle – is Hussein Hassan, a 46-year-old Red Crescent paramedic. Hassan said he was working in the hospital's emergency department when he received a call saying his son had been injured and his niece killed by a missile. Hassan said the family had received no warning that a strike was imminent and that he was haunted by the question of why a missile would be fired that hit children watering and planting flowers. 'How could this be? The children are still so young to be considered targets,' he said. 'Was there a targeted vehicle nearby? Or someone being pursued who passed by the street? I don't know.' When news of Yaqeen's death spread online on Monday, there was an outpouring grief and tributes from activists, followers and journalists. 'Yaqeen was cheerful, full of energy,' Hassan said. 'Due to my workload I hadn't seen her in a month before she died – and that's what hurt the most, that my last sight of her was when she was wrapped in a white shroud. 'I said my goodbye to her in the morgue at al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir-al Balah, and then carried her cold body into the ambulance to be transported for burial. Her family is devastated – she was their pampered youngest, the baby of the family.' Eyad remains in intensive care in Nasser hospital. He lost his left eye in the strike and has a fractured shoulder. When he was admitted to the hospital, shrapnel was embedded in various parts of his body. 'Seeing him in that condition broke my heart – my son, now lying in the hospital before my eyes,' Hassan said. 'Yaqeen's story is like that of so many children in Gaza who have been killed in the war, for no reason. They are not just numbers – each child has a story, a life, and families who are heartbroken by their loss.' The IDF says it is reviewing the circumstances of the strike. Three days later, in Gaza City, another family suffered another unimaginable loss. Six-year-old Ward Khalil's mother and two of her siblings were among dozens of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Fahmi al-Jarjawi school. Harrowing footage showed Ward leaving the scene of the strike, her body silhouetted against flames that had engulfed the school. The next day Ward gave an interview to Al Jazeera in which she recounted the horrors she had experienced. 'When I woke up, I found a huge fire, and I saw my mom was dead,' she said. 'I walked in the fire so I could escape … I was in the fire, and the ceiling fell on me. The ceiling all collapsed. The fire was blazing,' On top of Israeli strikes, Gaza's children are facing catastrophic levels of hunger. Aid agencies say Palestinian children are also bearing the brunt of an Israeli aid blockade that for nearly three months has severely restricted the flow of food and humanitarian assistance into the territory. The consequences have been devastating: last week, in one 48-hour period, 29 children and elderly people died from starvation, according to the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority health minister, Majed Abu Ramadan. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) estimated in May that nearly 71,000 children under the age of five were expected to be acutely malnourished by next March. Of these, 14,100 cases are expected to be severe. According to the UN humanitarian aid organisation for children, Unicef, more than 9,000 children have been treated for malnutrition in Gaza this year. 'These children – lives that should never be reduced to numbers – are now part of a long, harrowing list of unimaginable horrors,' Unicef said in a statement this week. 'The children of Gaza need protection,' it said. 'They need food, water, and medicine. They need a ceasefire. But more than anything, they need immediate, collective action to stop this once and for all.'
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Gaza's youngest influencer, 11, killed in Israeli strike after tragically offering war zone survival tips
Gaza 's youngest influencer, who posted survival tips for living in a war zone was killed in Israeli air strikes on Friday night. Yaqeen Hammad showed over 100,000 followers how to cook without gas but also how children living under bombardment found joy in daily life - posting images smiling and dancing. The 11-year-old was one of several children tragically killed in the strikes in central Gaza. Her body was torn apart and found between the rubble of the house that she lived in with her family in Al-Baraka area of Deir al-Bala. In one of her final posts, she wrote: 'Today was a day of joy for Gaza's orphans – we were giving them new clothes to bring a little happiness.' She also regularly shared videos of her work with Ouena collective, a Gaza-based non-profit organisation for humanitarian relief. They were posted under the handle @yaqeen_hmad, providing humanitarian updates and clips of her distributing toys to children with her brother Mohamed Hammad. When news of her death online hundreds of comments were left under her posts. One person wrote: 'What did a little girl do to deserve being killed?' Another added: 'I'm sorry we couldn't protect you.' Yaqeen is one of more than 15,000 children reported to have been killed in Gaza since the war began in October 2023, according to local health authorities. The strike was part of the latest influx of Israeli attacks, which killed 52 people on Monday, including 31 in a school turned shelter that was struck as people slept, igniting their belongings, according to local health officials. It follows an 11-week blockade on food, fuel, water and medicine, which has pushed the decimated civilian population of Gaza to the brink of famine, experts continue to warn. The Israeli military said 107 trucks carrying flour and other foodstuffs as well as medical supplies entered the Gaza Strip from the Kerem Shalom crossing point on Thursday. But getting the supplies to people sheltering in tents and other makeshift accommodation has been fitful and U.N. officials say at least 500 to 600 trucks of aid are needed every day. Israel imposed the blockade in early March, accusing Hamas of stealing aid meant for civilians. Hamas rejects the charge, saying a number of its own fighters have been killed protecting the trucks from armed looters. It has announced that a new system, sponsored by the United States and run by private contractors, will soon begin operations from four distribution centres in the south of Gaza, but many details of how the system will work remain unclear. The U.N. has already said it will not work with the new system, which it says will leave aid distribution conditional on Israel's political and military aims. Israel has maintained a presence in Gaza since the Hamas-led massacre of October 7, 2023, which saw gunmen storm into southern Israel and kill some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seize 251 hostages. It's subsequent ground and air war has left Gaza in ruin, displacing nearly all its residents and killing more than 53,000 people, many of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Gaza's youngest influencer aged 11 among children killed by Israeli strikes
Her life was one of war but Yaqeen Hammad somehow found a reason to smile. The 11-year-old was Gaza's youngest influencer, whose bright smile reached tens of thousands, including other children, while she offered practical survival tips for daily life under bombardment, such as advice on how to cook with improvised methods when there was no gas. In one social media post, Yaqeen wrote: 'I try to bring a bit of joy to the other children so that they can forget the war.' On Friday night, she was killed after a series of heavy Israeli airstrikes hit the house where she lived with her family, in Al-Baraka area of Deir al-Bala, in central Gaza. Her body, torn apart by the bombing, was recovered from beneath the rubble. When news of Yaqeen's death spread online on Monday, there was an outpouring of messages of grief and tributes from activists, followers and journalists. 'Instead of being at school and enjoying her childhood,' one of her followers wrote on X, 'she was active on Instagram and participating in campaigns to help others in Gaza. No words. Absolutely no words.' Mahmoud Bassam, a photojournalist in Gaza, said: 'Her body may be gone, but her impact remains a beacon of humanity.' Yaqeen and her older brother, Mohamed Hammad, delivered food, toys and clothing to displaced families, Al Jazeera has reported. She played an active role in the Ouena collective, a Gaza-based non-profit organisation dedicated to humanitarian relief. Yaqeen and Mohamed, a humanitarian worker, often visited camps and makeshift shelters for displaced families. In each place they went, she tried to spread cheer and comfort to the children. Hani Abu Rizq, a journalist and colleague of Yaqeen's in the Ouena collective, described her work as 'truly beautiful'. 'She had an entrepreneurial spirit and was always the first to do good. She loved helping others and bringing joy to children in displacement camps. She had a special touch, spreading hope and optimism among people despite the difficult circumstances,' he said. 'Her videos on social media received a great response from people because they were sincere and heartfelt. They conveyed the reality of Palestinian children in Gaza, who are suffering from all kinds of Israeli violations in this genocide that we have been subjected to for nearly two years.' In one of her final posts, she wrote: 'Today was a day of joy for Gaza's orphans – we were giving them new clothes to bring a little happiness.' She refused to give in to the war, dancing, smiling and handing out ice-creams and praying with other children.. In a post on Instagram on 15 May, she told her 103,000 followers: ''Despite the war and the genocide, we came today to make the children happy.'' 'Is there anything more beautiful than the smile of Gaza children,'' she wrote under the video. On 29 April, Yaqeen gave her followers some tips on how to cook with improvised methods when there was no gas. ''Did they cut off the gas? We made gas. We put wood here and a stove to let air in and make the fire burn more. We cook everything on it. Gaza: no to the impossible,'' she wrote. On 15 March, holding a bouquet of flowers, Yaqeen stepped into the tent where her brother was living and sang him Happy Birthday. ''Despite the pain and shock of Yaqeen's killing, this is the true face of the occupation,' Rizq said. 'Israel has killed a very large number of children during this genocide.' The Palestinian photojournalist Amr Tabash wrote on Instagram, alongside a clip featuring glimpses of Yaqeen working on humanitarian projects: 'Yaqeen was martyred, yet certainty remains in our hearts that the children of Gaza are the heartbeat of humanity and a reflection of global silence.' Mohamad al-Kadri, a volunteer with Muslim Doctors for Humanity, said: 'She was a child who carried in her heart a love for doing good, a spirit of initiative, and dedicated her young energy to planting hope in the hearts of those around her.' The Guardian has contacted the Israeli military for comment. Israel has intensified its air campaign in Gaza in recent days. Its airstrikes killed at least 52 people on Monday, including 31 in a school turned shelter that was struck as people slept, igniting their belongings, according to local health officials. On Sunday, Israeli attacks killed at least 38 people, health officials said, bringing the death toll to more than 100 over the weekend. Yaqeen died during the same series of strikes across the territory that killed nine of a paediatrician's 10 children, sparking international outrage. The Gaza health ministry says nearly 54,000 Palestinians, including 16,503 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks across the territory. On Thursday, health officials in the territory released a detailed breakdown of the numbers of children killed since Israel began its offensive in 2023 after the 7 October attacks by Hamas. According to their new data, 916 infants under one year old have been killed; 4,365 of those killed were between one and five years old; 6,101 were between six and 12 years old, and 5,124 were between 13 and 17.
The Independent
3 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Who was Yaqeen Hammad? Gaza's 11-year-old influencer killed in Israeli strike
A young Gazan influencer has been killed as Israel's military offensive in the territory continued to intensify. Eleven-year-old Yaqeen Hammad reached tens of thousands with her social media videos, which focused on supporting the Gazan community by helping to distribute clothing and toys to orphans. She worked closely with the Ouena Collective, a Gaza -based non-profit providing aid and supporting projects in the Strip, alongside her older brother and humanitarian worker Mohamed Hammad, the Palestine Chronicle reports. The Chronicle said she was Gaza's youngest social media activist, posting videos about the work with her brother and Ouena building a kitchen to feed Palestinians during the month of Ramadan, as well as videos laughing and playing with other children. 'Is there anything more beautiful than the smile of children Gaza?' she wrote in the caption to a video just one week ago showing children enjoying games and dancing. She also posted videos about daily life, showing her followers how she cooks when there is little fuel to be had. Yaqeen was killed when Israel shelled al-Baraka in Deir el-Balah, northern Gaza, on Friday night, Al Jazeera reports. Tributes flowed on her social media following news of her death. 'Her body may be gone, but her impact remains a beacon of humanity,' Gazan photojournalist Mahmoud Bassam wrote. Dozens of Palestinians including women and children have been killed in Israeli bombardments since Friday, as Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip continues despite international condemnation. The UN's International Organisation for Migration said the renewed offensive had forcibly displaced nearly 180,000 people between May 15-25. A new aid system in Gaza opened its first distribution hubs Monday, according to a U.S.-backed group that said it began delivering food to Palestinians who face growing hunger after Israel's nearly three-month blockade to pressure Hamas. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is taking over the handling of aid despite objections from United Nations. The desperately needed supplies started flowing on a day that saw Israeli strikes kill at least 52 people in Gaza. The group said truckloads of food - it did not say how many - had been delivered to its hubs, and distribution to Palestinians had begun. It was not clear where the hubs were located or how those receiving supplies were chosen. Under pressure from allies, Israel began allowing a trickle of humanitarian aid into Gaza last week after blocking all food, medicine, fuel or other goods from entering since early March. Aid groups have warned of famine and say the aid that has come in is nowhere near enough to meet mounting needs. Hamas warned Palestinians on Monday not to cooperate with the new aid system, saying it is part of Israel's plans to transfer much of Gaza's population to other countries. Israel says it plans to facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of much of Gaza's population of 2 million, a plan rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community. Israel's military campaign has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and internally displaced some 90 per cent of its population. Many have fled multiple times.
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Who is Yaqeen Hammad? Gaza's ‘youngest influencer' reportedly killed by Israeli airstrike
Eleven-year-old Yaqeen Hammad, Gaza's 'youngest influencer', has been killed in an Israeli airstrike, among a dozen others, per The Guardian. The 11-year-old influencer's home in central Gaza was reportedly reduced to rubble in a recent wave of heavy airstrikes. The Guardian reported that the rescue workers later recovered her body from beneath the debris. Yaqeen had become widely known for sharing survival tips from within the war zone. 'I try to bring a bit of joy to the other children so that they can forget the war,' she said in one of her Instagram posts. {This is a developing story. Please stay tuned with us for the latest updates.}
