Yaqeen Hammad was just 11 years old. Through social media, she offered daily strength to other children in Gaza. She shared how to cook without gas, how to stay calm when bombs fell, how to remain human in the midst of hell. Now, she is gone. Killed in an Israeli airstrike on the al-Baraka area of Deir al-Balah on Friday, May 24.
But Yaqeen wasn’t just a child trying to survive. She was a small ray of hope in a place where horror dominates. Together with her older brother Mohammed, she distributed food, toys, and clothing to the displaced. She was a volunteer. Now, she’s a statistic—one of the tens of thousands whose lives were violently cut short.
Her death is not an isolated tragedy. Since the start of Israel’s military operation in October 2023 through March 2025, more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the latest data from Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
Over 70% of the dead are women and children. The average age of the victims is under 18. It is a grim testament to a population being systematically erased, with international humanitarian law violated daily and the world watching in silence.
Yaqeen had become known on Instagram for her hopeful presence in unimaginable circumstances. She spoke about how to remain a child when everything around you is falling apart. In her own words:
“I try to bring a little joy to the other children, so they can forget the war.”
She filmed videos from inside shelters, handed out ice cream, danced, laughed, prayed. She tried to remind children that they still had the right to feel like children.
The grief and outrage following her death has been immense. Journalists, activists, and ordinary people across the globe have shared how this young girl’s courage offered light in the darkness. As photojournalist Mahmoud Bassam wrote:
“Her body may be gone, but her presence remains a beacon of humanity.”
Yaqeen Hammad’s killing is not “collateral damage.” It is the result of a campaign that for months has targeted hospitals, schools, shelters, and playgrounds. Every bomb that falls on Gaza carries the weight of a population’s sentence. And as long as the international community stands still, the slaughter continues.
