Gaza Herald – For twelve years, Islam Mousa Abu Shammala grew up carrying the emptiness left by her mother’s death, while her older brother Abdullah took on the family’s responsibilities long before adulthood.
Believing that life in a displacement tent might offer them another chance to survive, the siblings were instead killed together in an Israeli airstrike on Al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, bringing another chapter of loss to a family that had endured tragedy for years.
An Orphaned Childhood
Islam was only two years old when her mother succumbed to her wounds in 2014 after suffering a sudden stroke during one of the bombardments on Gaza. From that day on, she grew up without her mother’s embrace, carrying a grief that never left her.
Umm Fouad Al-Sabaa, the wife of the siblings’ maternal uncle and their neighbor in the displacement camp, says Islam never recovered from her mother’s absence.
“Whenever she saw a mother hugging her daughter during celebrations or family gatherings in the camp, she would quietly withdraw to the corner of the tent and cry. She never knew the warmth of her mother’s arms after early childhood.”
A Brother Who Became a Father
After their mother’s death, Abdullah was only 17 years old when he found himself responsible for the family.
He was no longer just an older brother; he became both father and mother to Islam and their siblings, working tirelessly to provide for them despite years of blockade and war.
“Abdullah grew up far too quickly,” Umm Fouad says.
“He raised his siblings and cared especially for Islam because she was the youngest. He later married and had a son, while his wife was expecting another child, yet he never stopped looking after his brothers and sisters.”
She recalls that he continued checking on Islam’s needs, doing whatever he could to provide her with food and clothing until the very end of his life.
One Airstrike Ended What Remained of the Family
On the evening of June 27, 2026, an Israeli airstrike targeted tents sheltering displaced families in Al-Mawasi, killing Abdullah and Islam simultaneously, although each was inside a different tent.
Recalling those moments, Umm Fouad says:
“Abdullah was inside his tent when the missile struck, while Islam was sitting inside my tent talking with my daughter.”
She continues:
“The moment the explosion happened, I ran outside to see what had happened. I found Islam lying motionless on the ground, struck by shrapnel in her head and neck.”
Abdullah, she says, tried to crawl toward the entrance of his tent in his final moments, hoping someone would see him and rescue him. But the severe injuries to his head and neck proved fatal, and he died before anyone could reach him.
Reunited With Their Mother and Their Brother
Abdullah and Islam were not the first members of the family to be lost.
One of their brothers had previously been killed by Israeli forces’ gunfire while seeking humanitarian aid, meaning the three siblings were reunited with their mother after years marked by grief and hardship.
Speaking through tears, Umm Fouad says:
“Islam was always a sad child, carrying burdens far beyond her age. Losing them both breaks my heart, but I pray God chose them to finally find peace after all their suffering.”
She adds:
“How many nights did they spend in this camp searching for food, only to find nothing?”
When Tents Become Targets
The killing of Abdullah and Islam comes amid the continued targeting of displacement camps across the Gaza Strip, where makeshift tents, erected as shelters from Israeli bombardment, have themselves become frequent targets.
Human rights organizations continue to document Israeli strikes on areas where civilians have been instructed to relocate, including zones designated as “humanitarian areas,” which now shelter hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians under increasingly dire humanitarian conditions.
