Ameen Mohammed Hamad al-Qulaq

Their life

Ameen Mohammed Hamad al-Qulaq, 90, was a Palestinian elder from Gaza. He belonged to the well-known al-Qulaq family and lived on al-Wehda Street in Gaza City. Despite his advanced age, he remained surrounded by his family and community. His life, like many in Gaza, was marked by resilience amid decades of conflict and hardships under blockade. He was one of the oldest victims of the May 2021 Israeli assault on Gaza.

Born around 1931, Ameen Mohammed Hamad al-Qulaq lived through the Nakba of 1948, multiple wars, and decades of Israeli occupation and blockade on Gaza. At 90 years old, he represented one of the oldest generations in Gaza, a living witness to the history of displacement and continuous struggle of the Palestinian people. The al-Qulaq family was among the hardest hit during the May 2021 Israeli bombardment, losing thirteen members in a single night of airstrikes. Ameen was killed alongside his children, grandchildren, and relatives, symbolizing the devastating multigenerational impact of the assault.

How they died

He was Killed by Israeli missile strikes.

On May 16, 2021, Israeli warplanes launched a series of powerful airstrikes on al-Wehda Street in Gaza City. Missiles struck several residential buildings where families were huddled together in fear. Ameen was killed instantly when his home was destroyed. The same strike also killed thirteen members of the al-Qulaq family, including children as young as one year old, wiping out nearly an entire lineage. The violence of the attack was such that medical and civil defense crews struggled to retrieve bodies from beneath the rubble for hours.

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Ameen Mohammed Hamad al-Qulaq, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources