Adham Ezzat Al-Qulaq
Adam was killed by Israeli missiles that struck his family home on al-Wehda Street, Gaza City, on May 16, 2021.
On the night of May 16, 2021, Israeli fighter jets bombarded al-Wehda Street in Gaza City with over 100 missiles in less than half an hour. The strikes caused widespread destruction and collapsed several multi-story residential buildings. Families were buried alive under rubble as they slept. Adam, just three years old, died instantly inside his home. He was one of thirteen members of the Al-Qulaq family confirmed dead that night, including multiple children, women, and elderly relatives. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights denounced the attack as a violation of international humanitarian law, citing the deliberate targeting of civilian homes. Adam’s death is remembered as part of the massacre that killed at least forty-three Palestinians in that single night, most of them women and children.
Biography
Adam Ezzat Al-Qulaq was a three-year-old Palestinian boy from Gaza City. He was one of the youngest victims of the May 16, 2021 massacre on al-Wehda Street, when Israeli missiles struck residential homes without warning. Adam was killed alongside many members of his extended family, including children, parents, and grandparents, as they sheltered inside their home during the night of bombardment. His death is among the many tragedies that highlighted the heavy toll on Gaza’s children during the 11-day Israeli assault.
Adam Ezzat Al-Qulaq was born in Gaza in 2018. He lived with his family in their home on al-Wehda Street, a densely populated area of Gaza City. Belonging to the large and respected Al-Qulaq family, Adam’s childhood was full of promise but tragically brief. On May 16, 2021, Israeli warplanes launched one of the deadliest bombardments of the conflict, dropping around 150 bombs over Gaza City in a single night. Among the worst-hit areas was al-Wehda Street, where entire buildings collapsed. Adam, only three years old, was killed in the strike along with his relatives, including his one-year-old cousin Qusay, and his sisters Hala, Yara, Rola, and Lana. His father, Ezzat, also perished. Adam’s life was ended in innocence, and his story was documented by the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights as part of a massacre that wiped out entire families.
Pleas of Surviving Relatives and Family if any
Riyad Hasan Shkontana, a neighbor on al-Wehda Street, became a symbol of the survivors’ anguish. He was pulled alive from the rubble, only to discover that his wife and five children had been killed in the same attack. His testimony expressed disbelief that civilians and children like Adam were bombed without warning. He pleaded for the world to intervene, asking: “Why are children and families being targeted? Why were we not safe even in our homes?”
Additional Information
Sources & References
Adam Ezzat Al-Qulaq, 3, was killed by Israeli missiles in the al-Wehda Street, in Gaza city. Reham was also a computer engineer. 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. Also killed in the barrage of airstrikes on al-Wihda Street was Dr. Mo’in Ahmad al-Aloul, a neurologist and brain specialist.1 israelpalestinetimeline.org Open source