Rola Mohammad Mo’een Al-Qulaq
Rola was killed by Israeli missiles that struck her home on al-Wehda Street in Gaza City on May 16, 2021.
On the night of May 16, 2021, Israeli warplanes carried out a massive bombardment on al-Wehda Street in Gaza City, dropping over 100 bombs in a short period of time. The strikes targeted residential buildings, causing entire houses to collapse on families who were inside. Rescue teams reported pulling bodies, mostly women and children, from beneath the rubble. Rola, aged six, was among the children killed instantly in her family home. She perished alongside her three sisters and other relatives of the Al-Qolaq family. Human rights organizations condemned the strikes as indiscriminate and disproportionate, with survivors describing the night as one of terror and devastation.
Biography
Rola Mohammad Mo’een Al-Qolaq was a six-year-old Palestinian girl from Gaza City. She was among the many children of the extended Al-Qolaq family who were killed on May 16, 2021, when Israeli airstrikes devastated al-Wehda Street. Rola was inside her home with her parents and siblings when missiles struck, killing her and many members of her family. Her short life was cut tragically short, becoming part of one of the deadliest single nights of the 2021 assault on Gaza.
Rola Mohammad Mo’een Al-Qolaq was born in Gaza in 2015. She lived with her family in their house on al-Wehda Street, a residential area in Gaza City. Rola grew up in a close-knit family and was known for her childhood innocence and joy. On May 16, 2021, during one of the most devastating Israeli bombardments of the 11-day war, her home and surrounding buildings were struck by heavy missiles. The strikes leveled entire buildings and buried families under the rubble. Rola, just six years old, was killed alongside her sisters Hala (13), Yara (10), and Lana (4), as well as many other members of the Al-Qolaq family. Her death was documented by the Palestinian Health Ministry and human rights groups, which cited the massacre on al-Wehda Street as a grave violation of international humanitarian law. Rola’s story stands as a tragic reminder of the immense toll borne by Gaza’s children during the conflict.
Pleas of Surviving Relatives and Family if any
Riyad Hasan Shkontana, a neighbor and survivor of the same airstrike, lost his wife and five children. He was pulled alive from the rubble but later told that his entire immediate family had been killed. In interviews and testimonies, he recounted the horror of waking up under debris, hearing his children’s voices fade, and then being told at the hospital that none of them survived. His public plea was simple and heartbreaking: “Why were we targeted while we were sleeping at home? We are not militants. We are just a family.” His story has been widely reported as emblematic of the civilian suffering on al-Wehda Street.
Additional Information
Sources & References
Rola Mohammad Mo’een -al-Qolaq, 6, was killed by Israeli missiles in the al-Wehda Street, Gaza city. The missile strikes killed thirteen members of the al-Qulaq family, ranging in age from 1 to 85, as they huddled in their homes in terror while the Israeli airstrikes continued throughout the night. Local Palestinians have reported hearing as many as 150 Israeli bombs during the night. One of the families wiped out by an Israeli missile Sunday morning was that of Riyad Hasan IshKinatna, who was pulled out of the rubble Sunday morning by rescue crews, barely alive, only to be told when he reached the hospital that his wife and five children were all killed in the Israeli attack.1 israelpalestinetimeline.org Open source