Huda Salah Rabi’a al-Khozondar

Their life

Huda Salah Rabi’a al-Khozondar was a 36-year-old Palestinian woman from Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. On May 19, 2021, during the Israeli military offensive, she was tragically killed when Israeli warplanes launched a missile targeting a nearby house in the al-Satar al-Gharbi neighborhood. The strike caused widespread destruction, not only to the targeted home but also to surrounding civilian residences. Huda was killed instantly, while her husband and their 2-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Malak, were seriously wounded. The attack also injured several other civilians, including women and children. Her death represents yet another devastating example of the heavy toll inflicted on innocent families during the Gaza conflict.

Huda Salah Rabi’a al-Khozondar, aged 36, lived with her family in Khan Younis, a city located in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. In the early hours of May 19, 2021, Israeli warplanes launched a missile targeting the home of Mohammed Khaled al-Khawaldah in the al-Satar al-Gharbi neighborhood. The explosion caused massive destruction to the 120-square-meter house and severely damaged a neighboring house belonging to Na’elah Rabi’a al-Khuzondar, where Huda and her family were staying.

The missile strike killed Huda and injured her husband and their young daughter, Malak, who was only two and a half years old. In total, seven others were wounded in the surrounding homes, including two women and two children. One victim had to undergo a leg amputation due to the severity of the injuries. The tragedy occurred amid a night of heavy bombardment in various areas of Khan Younis, as part of a larger Israeli offensive that claimed the lives of nine Palestinians that day, including three women and two children.

Hud

How they died

Killed by an Israeli missile strike near her home in Khan Younis.

Huda al-Khozondar was killed when an Israeli airstrike targeted a residential home in the al-Satar al-Gharbi neighborhood of Khan Younis. Though the missile directly struck the home of Mohammed Khaled al-Khawaldah, it also caused massive destruction to neighboring buildings, including the one where Huda and her family lived. The explosion fatally wounded Huda and injured her husband and young daughter. The airstrike, part of a series of intense bombardments that night, demonstrated the dangerous proximity of civilian homes to military targets, with little regard for collateral damage.

A plea from the family

She was just sleeping beside me,” he said tearfully. “In one moment, everything turned to dust. How do I raise my daughter without her mother?” Relatives described Huda as a kind and devoted woman, deeply involved in her family's life. "She always put Malak first," said a cousin. "She didn’t deserve this. No one here does."

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Huda Salah Rabi’a al-Khozondar, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources