Mohammad Ramadan Omar Ishtawi

Their life

Mohammad Ramadan Omar Ishtawi, 19, was a Palestinian from Gaza City. On May 18, 2021, he was killed instantly when an Israeli missile struck his family’s agricultural land behind their home in the southern part of the city. His death occurred on the tenth consecutive day of the Israeli military offensive on Gaza, a day in which at least eight Palestinians, including a woman and a child, were killed across the Strip, and dozens more were injured

Born and raised in Gaza City, Mohammad Ramadan Omar Ishtawi was a 19-year-old who lived with his family in the southern area of the city, near their agricultural land. On May 18, 2021, during the tenth day of intense Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, an Israeli missile struck the farmland directly behind his house. The impact killed Mohammad instantly, leaving his family and community in shock. That same day, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported that eight Palestinians, including a woman and a child, were killed across Gaza, and 76 others were injured, among them nine women and eleven children. The attacks also destroyed 12 houses and damaged vital infrastructure, including a main fiber-optic line, cutting much of Gaza off from the outside world. By that date, the offensive had claimed 221 Palestinian lives—62 of them children—and wounded more than 1,000, with dozens in critical condition. Mohammad’s death added to the mounting toll of young lives lost in the escalating conflict.

How they died

Fatal injuries from an Israeli missile strike

Mohammad was killed when an Israeli missile directly struck his family’s agricultural land behind their home in southern Gaza City. The explosion caused massive trauma and instantaneous death, consistent with the high-yield destructive power of air-to-ground munitions used in the offensive.

A plea from the family

“He was only 19 years old, staying at home near our land. He had dreams for his future, but in a moment, the missile took him from us. We want the world to see that our sons are being killed while simply living their lives. We call for justice, for protection, and for an end to the killing of innocent people in Gaza.”

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Mohammad Ramadan Omar Ishtawi, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources