Hoor Mo’men Jamal al-Zamli

Their life

Hoor Mo’men Jamal al-Zamli was a two-year-old Palestinian child from the at-Tannour neighborhood of Rafah in southern Gaza. On May 13, 2021, she was killed along with her pregnant mother, Khuloud, when Israeli warplanes bombed their family home without warning. Seven others, including three children, were injured in the same strike. Hoor’s short life was cut tragically short during the heavy bombardment of Gaza that killed dozens of civilians that night.

Born in the at-Tannour neighborhood of Rafah, Hoor Mo’men Jamal al-Zamli was only two years old when she became one of the youngest victims of the May 2021 Israeli assault on Gaza. She lived in a family home with her parents, including her mother Khuloud, who was five months pregnant at the time. On the evening of May 13, 2021, around 7:45 p.m., an Israeli warplane struck their two-story house without prior warning. The attack killed Hoor instantly, along with her mother and unborn sibling. Her father and other relatives survived but suffered injuries in the blast, while neighbors and rescuers rushed the wounded to Abu Yousef Al-Najjar hospital. Hoor’s death was part of a night of relentless bombings across Gaza that claimed 36 lives, wiped out entire families, and left entire neighborhoods in ruins. Though only a toddler, her story reflects the profound vulnerability of Gaza’s children, who bear the heaviest cost of war.

How they died

She was Killed in an Israeli airstrike on her family home on May 13, 2021.

On May 13, 2021, Israeli aircraft launched multiple strikes across the Gaza Strip. Around 7:45 p.m., one missile struck the two-story home of the al-Zamli family in Rafah’s at-Tannour neighborhood. The airstrike gave no warning and reduced the home to rubble. Hoor, just two years old, was killed instantly, along with her pregnant mother. Seven others, including three children, were injured in the blast and taken to Abu Yousef Al-Najjar hospital for treatment. The strike was part of a larger campaign that night that targeted residential neighborhoods and killed dozens of civilians, including many children.

A plea from the family

Relatives of the al-Zamli family in Rafah spoke through tears about the unbearable loss of two-year-old Hoor and her mother Khuloud, who was five months pregnant. “She was only a child, barely beginning her life,” one family member said. “She held her toys in her hands, and now we hold her lifeless body. The world cannot imagine our pain.” Her father, wounded in the bombing, cried out that the attack not only killed his wife and daughter but also the unborn baby they had been waiting to welcome. “They were our joy, our future. In one moment, everything was taken from us. I ask the world, how can this be allowed? How many more children must die before the world acts?” Other relatives expressed their disbelief that their home was struck without warning. “We had no chance to run, no chance to protect the children. The occupation turned our house into rubble and buried our happiness under it. We demand justice, not only for Hoor and Khuloud, but for all the children of Gaza who are being killed in their homes.”

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Hoor Mo’men Jamal al-Zamli, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources