Mena Eyad Fathi Sharir
Mena Eyad Fathi Sharir died from wounds sustained in an Israeli airstrike that destroyed her family’s home.
On May 11, 2021, Israeli airstrikes targeted the family home on al-Nafaq Street in Gaza City. The missile hit caused the two-story house to collapse, killing Mena’s father Eyad, mother Layali, and sister Lina immediately. Mena initially survived the bombing but suffered severe injuries. Despite receiving medical treatment, the extent of her wounds led to her death a week later, underscoring the prolonged suffering caused by such military operations in civilian areas.
Biography
Mena Eyad Fathi Sharir, a 2-year-old girl from the al-Manara neighborhood in Gaza City, succumbed to wounds sustained in an Israeli airstrike on May 11, 2021, which destroyed her family’s home on al-Nafaq Street. The airstrike also killed her father Eyad, her mother Layali Taha ‘Abbas Sharir (41), and her older sister Lina (16). Mena survived the initial attack but passed away a week later on May 18, 2021. The strike was part of a larger series of Israeli airstrikes that targeted residential areas in Gaza, causing extensive casualties and destruction.
Mena Eyad Fathi Sharir was a toddler living with her family in the densely populated al-Manara neighborhood on al-Nafaq Street in Gaza City. She was the youngest daughter of Eyad Sharir and Layali Taha ‘Abbas Sharir, and had an older sister, Lina Eyad Fathi Sharir, aged 16. On May 11, 2021, the family’s two-story home was struck by an Israeli missile during a military campaign targeting various areas in Gaza.
The missile caused the building to collapse on its residents. Eyad, Layali, and Lina were killed instantly, with Lina’s body recovered in a severely mutilated state. Mena survived the initial bombing but was critically injured. Despite medical efforts, she succumbed to her wounds a week later, on May 18, 2021. The area around the family home sustained heavy damage due to the blast, and 25 others were wounded in the vicinity.
The Israeli military claimed that Eyad was a leader of the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, framing the strike as a targeted assassination. However, this attack resulted in
Pleas of Surviving Relatives and Family if any
The loss of Mena, along with her parents Eyad and Layali, and her sister Lina, has left surviving relatives and neighbors in profound grief and outrage. Family members have spoken of their heartbreak at losing so many loved ones in a single devastating strike.
Eyad’s extended family has called on the international community to recognize the innocence of their loved ones and to hold accountable those responsible for the attack. They emphasize that Mena was just a toddler, and her family were civilians, not combatants, questioning how such a tragedy could be justified.
Neighbors and community members in the al-Manara neighborhood mourn the family as symbols of the immense civilian suffering caused by the conflict. Many have expressed:
“How can children and families be targeted like this? They were not soldiers; they were our neighbors, our friends, our children. The world must see this injustice and act.”
Additional Information
Sources & References
Mena Eyad Fathi Sharir, 2, succumbed to wounds she sustained in an Israeli airstrike that destroyed her family’s house on their heads on al-Nafaq Street on 11 May 2021. It should be noted that Menna’s father, mother, and her sister were killed in that airstrike as well. Mena’s whole family, including her parents and older sister Lina Eyad Fathi Sharir, 16, were killed by the Israeli airforce in their home, in a targeted assassination in al-Manara neighborhood on al-Nafaq Street in Gaza City. The family’s 2-story house was destroyed over its residents when the army fired a missile into their home – Eyad, his wife Layali Taha ‘Abbas Sharir (41) and their daughter Lina (16) were killed. Lina’s body was retrieved few hours after the airstrike, and her body was torn into pieces. Eyad’s younger daughter, 2-year old Menna Eyad Fathi Sharir, survived the initial attack that killed1 israelpalestinetimeline.org Open source