Kholoud Fo’ad Farhan al-Zamli

Their life

Kholoud Fo’ad Farhan al-Zamli, 27, was a young mother from the at-Tannour neighborhood of Rafah, in southern Gaza. She was married and the mother of a two-year-old daughter, Hoor. At the time of her death, Kholoud was also five months pregnant, looking forward to expanding her family. She was among the dozens of Palestinians who lost their lives during the Israeli bombardments of Gaza on May 13, 2021. Known as a caring mother and wife, she lived in a modest family home with her loved ones before her life was cut short in a devastating airstrike.

Kholoud grew up in Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, where her family had deep community ties. She married into the al-Zamli family and was devoted to raising her daughter, Hoor, while also preparing to welcome a new child into the world. Despite the challenges of life in Gaza under blockade and repeated escalations of violence, Kholoud and her family sought to maintain a sense of normalcy and resilience. On the evening of May 13, 2021, her life was tragically taken when Israeli warplanes carried out a strike on her family’s home without prior warning. The attack instantly killed Kholoud, her two-year-old daughter Hoor, and her unborn child, leaving her surviving relatives in grief. Her death reflects not only a personal tragedy but also the collective suffering endured by many Palestinian families during the May 2021 assault on Gaza.

How they died

Kholoud was killed in an Israeli airstrike on her family’s home on May 13, 2021.

On the evening of May 13, 2021, around 7:45 p.m., an Israeli warplane bombed the two-story home of Jamal al-Zamli in the Tanour neighborhood of Rafah. The strike came without warning and completely destroyed the residence. Kholoud, who was five months pregnant, was killed instantly along with her two-year-old daughter, Hoor. Seven others, including three children, were wounded in the attack and transported to Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital for treatment. The indiscriminate nature of the strike, targeting a civilian home, turned a place of family safety into rubble and devastation.

A plea from the family

Relatives of Kholoud al-Zamli, devastated by the sudden loss of both her and her young daughter, Hoor, pleaded for the world to recognize the unbearable cost of the bombing campaign on innocent families. Her husband and extended family spoke of a future stolen in an instant — a young mother of 27, five months pregnant, whose life was cut short alongside her little girl. Her family expressed their anguish that no warning was given before the strike, leaving them no chance to escape or protect their loved ones. “She was at home, a mother with her child, waiting for her new baby to come into this world,” a grieving relative said. “Instead, she and her children were buried beneath the rubble.”

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Kholoud Fo’ad Farhan al-Zamli, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources