Sham

Their life

Sham, the two-year-old daughter of Palestinian journalist Salam Mema, was a bright and tender child growing up in Jabaliya, northern Gaza. She was deeply loved by her family and brought joy and innocence into their home. Her short life was tragically cut short in an Israeli air strike that destroyed her family house, leaving her older brother Ali as the sole surviving child.

Born in Gaza, Sham was the youngest daughter of Salam Mema and her husband. Despite her young age, she was the heart of her family, filling their days with the laughter, playfulness, and sweetness of early childhood. She shared her home with her parents, her brothers Hadi and Ali, and extended family members, all of whom cherished her presence. Sham’s life, like that of many children in Gaza, was marked by the hardships of growing up under siege, yet her innocence remained untouched. On 10 October, her life ended suddenly and violently when an Israeli air strike hit her family home in Jabaliya, killing her along with her parents, her brother Hadi, and other relatives. Her brother Ali, aged five, was the only one who survived. Sham’s death symbolizes the devastating loss of young lives in conflict, where childhood is stolen far too soon.

How they died

Sham was killed in an Israeli air strike.

On 10 October, an Israeli air strike struck the Mema family’s home in Jabaliya, northern Gaza. Sham was inside the house with her parents and siblings at the time. The bombing caused the house to collapse, killing her instantly along with her mother, father, and brother Hadi. Her five-year-old brother Ali miraculously survived but was left without his immediate family.

A plea from the family

Her five-year-old brother Ali, the only surviving immediate family member, has become a symbol of both unimaginable loss and fragile survival. Relatives and friends of the family have expressed deep sorrow, emphasizing that Sham, her parents, and brother Hadi were all innocent civilians whose lives were cut short unfairly. Friends described her mother, journalist Salam Mema, as devoted and loving, making the loss of her young children, including Sham, all the more heartbreaking. Family members who remain are left in shock and devastation, pleading for the world to recognize the suffering of Gaza’s children and to protect those who are still alive.

Why we remember them

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

References & sources