Malak Hani Mahmoud Al-Tawil Al-Daalsa

Their life

Malak Hani Mahmoud Al-Tawil, known by her family name Al-Daalsa, was a 22-year-old Palestinian woman from Al-Nuseirat Refugee Camp in the central Gaza Strip. She was married and beginning to build her adult life amidst the daily challenges of living under siege and the constant threat of violence. A daughter, a wife, and a young woman with dreams and responsibilities, Malak lived in a place where every ordinary moment—cooking a meal, talking with family, or simply sleeping—could be shattered in an instant.

Malak Hani Mahmoud Al-Tawil, known by her family name Al-Daalsa, was a 22-year-old Palestinian woman from Al-Nuseirat Refugee Camp in the central Gaza Strip. She was married and beginning to build her adult life amidst the daily challenges of living under siege and the constant threat of violence. A daughter, a wife, and a young woman with dreams and responsibilities, Malak lived in a place where every ordinary moment—cooking a meal, talking with family, or simply sleeping—could be shattered in an instant.

On February 21, 2024, Malak was killed in an Israeli airstrike that struck the home of the Al-Daalsa family in Al-Nuseirat Refugee Camp. The house had been sheltering several displaced families who had fled bombings in other parts of Gaza. As with many such attacks, the strike came without warning—no phone call, no leaflet, no alert. The house was reduced to rubble, and Malak was among those martyred, her life cut short in a place meant to offer safety.

Malak’s death reflects the brutal reality of life in Gaza during ongoing military assaults. She was not involved in fighting or politics; she was a young woman navigating marriage and adulthood in a world shaped by trauma and uncertainty. Her final moments were likely spent with people she loved, seeking refuge in family and faith. Her youth, her potential, her humanity—were all lost in a matter of seconds.

Malak is remembered by her family as warm, kind-hearted, and full of promise. She was part of a generation that has never known freedom of movement, security, or peace—but still carried hope. Her death, alongside others in the same strike, became one more devastating entry in the long list of civilian casualties resulting from a war where homes are targeted without distinction.

Her story is not just about how she died, but what her life represented: resilience, dignity, and the enduring humanity of Gaza’s youth. Malak Hani Mahmoud Al-Tawil “Al-Daalsa” is mourned by her loved ones and remembered by all who believe that no life should be lost in silence or forgotten beneath the rubble.

How they died

Killed by targeted Israeli airstrike

Malak Hani Mahmoud Al-Tawil, known as Al-Daalsa, was killed on February 21, 2024, in a targeted Israeli airstrike that struck the Al-Daalsa family home in Al-Nuseirat Refugee Camp in the central Gaza Strip. At just 22 years old, Malak’s life ended suddenly and violently amid the rubble of her own home—a place she shared with relatives and several displaced persons who had sought shelter from bombings in other parts of Gaza.

The strike was carried out without prior warning, a fact that eliminated any chance for evacuation or survival. The bomb, likely a precision-guided munition, caused the multi-story residential building to collapse almost instantly. Malak, like many others inside, was buried beneath the debris. Her death was caused by a combination of factors typical in such attacks: blast injuries, including internal organ damage from the force of the explosion; blunt trauma from collapsing concrete and shrapnel; and possible asphyxiation from dust and lack of oxygen under the rubble.

Because of the intensity of the explosion and the structural collapse, many victims—including Malak—were not immediately recovered. Civil defense crews and local residents had to dig through the ruins with limited equipment, often using their bare hands. For some families, including Malak's, the only way to identify loved ones was through personal belongings or traces of clothing.

Malak’s death, like that of many civilians in Gaza, is not simply the result of a military strike—it is the result of a wider policy of collective punishment and disregard for civilian life. She was a young woman, recently married, not involved in any armed group or military activity. Her targeting was not specific—it was indiscriminate. Her home became a grave without her consent, and her final moments were likely spent in fear, confusion, and disbelief.

Her cause of death must be seen in the context of systemic violence: a civilian killed in a densely populated refugee camp, in a home turned into a shelter for the displaced, in a war where even the most basic places of human safety—homes, schools, mosques—are no longer spared.

A plea from the family

After the devastating airstrike on February 21, 2024, that killed 22-year-old Malak Hani Mahmoud Al-Tawil, also known as Al-Daalsa, her surviving family members were left to grapple with both unspeakable grief and unimaginable shock. Their home in Al-Nuseirat Refugee Camp, once a haven for relatives and displaced families, had become a mass grave in an instant. In the days following the attack, as rescue teams and neighbors searched through the ruins, Malak’s relatives made emotional pleas to the world. Her husband, barely able to speak through tears, clutched one of her personal items—a scarf, a ring, a phone—saying: “She was my life. We were just beginning. How is this justice? How is this defense? She never held a weapon. Her only crime was staying in her family’s home.”

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Malak Hani Mahmoud Al-Tawil Al-Daalsa, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources