Abdul-Rahim Mohammad al-Madhoun

Their life

Abdul-Rahim Mohammad al-Madhoun was a 63-year-old Palestinian man and resident of the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. On May 13, 2021, he became one of the 36 Palestinians killed during a devastating, all-night Israeli bombardment that targeted homes and civilian infrastructure across Gaza. He was killed in his community when Israeli forces shelled the Jabalia refugee camp. Tragically, he was not killed alone; a 60-year-old woman, Hajar Abdul-Razeq al-Madhoun, was killed in the same attack, suggesting a profound personal loss for their family. His death is a single tragedy among hundreds from the 11-day conflict, which highlighted the severe impact of military operations on civilian populations in Gaza.

Abdul-Rahim Mohammad al-Madhoun, 63, was a lifelong resident of the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. His life was tragically ended on May 13, 2021, during one of the most intense nights of Israeli bombardment in the May 2021 Gaza-Israel escalation.

His death occurred in the context of a massive Israeli military operation that lasted throughout the night. Dubbed an "all-night-long bombardment," the attacks specifically targeted homes, apartment towers, and civilian infrastructure across the Gaza Strip, killing 36 Palestinians and injuring hundreds in a single evening. The assault turned entire residential squares into rubble and severely hampered rescue efforts.

The attack that killed Abdul-Rahim was part of this broader offensive. Israeli forces shelled the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp, where he lived. The text explicitly states: "Homes were also shelled in Jabalia refugee camp... Two Palestinians, identified as Abdul-Rahim Mohammad al-Madhoun, 63, and Hajar Abdul-Razeq al-Madhoun, 60, were killed."

This indicates that Abdul-Rahim was almost certainly killed in his own home or its immediate vicinity. The simultaneous death of Hajar Abdul-Razeq al-Madhoun, who shared his surname and was close in age, strongly suggests they were husband and wife. Their joint killing represents the type of multi-generational family tragedy that was recurrent throughout the conflict, wiping out entire families in single strikes.

Abdul-Rahim's death contributed to the grim statistics of the 11-day assault, which saw 247 Palestinians killed, including 66 children and 39 women. As documented by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, his death, along with the others, was used to call upon the International Criminal Court to open an investigation into potential war crimes and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, underscoring the international legal implications of the strikes that killed him and his compatriots.

How they died

Abdul-Rahim Mohammad al-Madhoun was killed by Israeli shelling (missiles or artillery) that struck his home or the vicinity of his home.

Abdul-Rahim was killed during a widespread Israeli bombardment of the Jabalia refugee camp. The text specifies that "homes were also shelled in Jabalia refugee camp," and it was in this attack that he and Hajar Abdul-Razeq al-Madhoun (likely his wife or a close relative) were killed. The attack was part of a larger, all-night-long offensive on May 13th that targeted civilian areas across Gaza, including homes and apartment towers, with overwhelming force that turned buildings into rubble.

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Abdul-Rahim Mohammad al-Madhoun, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources