Gaza‘s youngest influencer – who posted survival tips for living in a war zone – has been killed in Israeli air strikes.
Yaqeen Hammad showed over 100,000 followers how to cook without gas but also how children living under bombardment found joy in daily life – posting images smiling and dancing.
The 11-year-old was one of several children tragically killed in the strikes in central Gaza on Friday.
Her body was torn apart and found between the rubble of the house that she lived in with her family in Al-Baraka area of Deir al-Bala.
In one of her final posts, she wrote: ‘Today was a day of joy for Gaza’s orphans – we were giving them new clothes to bring a little happiness.’
She also regularly shared videos of her work with Ouena collective, a Gaza-based non-profit organisation for humanitarian relief.
They were posted under the handle @yaqeen_hmad, providing humanitarian updates and clips of her distributing toys to children with her brother Mohamed Hammad.
When news of her death online hundreds of comments were left under her posts.
Yaqeen Hammad (pictured) showed over 100,000 followers how to cook without gas but also how children living under bombardment found joy in daily life
Yaqeen is one of more than 15,000 children reported to have been killed in Gaza since the war began in October 2023, according to local health authorities
In one of her final posts, Yaqeen wrote: ‘Today was a day of joy for Gaza’s orphans – we were giving them new clothes to bring a little happiness.’
One person wrote: ‘What did a little girl do to deserve being killed?’
Another added: ‘I’m sorry we couldn’t protect you.’
Yaqeen is one of more than 15,000 children reported to have been killed in Gaza since the war began in October 2023, according to local health authorities.
The strike was part of the latest influx of Israeli attacks, which killed 52 people on Monday, including 31 in a school turned shelter that was struck as people slept, igniting their belongings, according to local health officials.
It follows an 11-week blockade on food, fuel, water and medicine, which has pushed the decimated civilian population of Gaza to the brink of famine, experts continue to warn.
The Israeli military said 107 trucks carrying flour and other foodstuffs as well as medical supplies entered the Gaza Strip from the Kerem Shalom crossing point on Thursday.
But getting the supplies to people sheltering in tents and other makeshift accommodation has been fitful and U.N. officials say at least 500 to 600 trucks of aid are needed every day.
Israel imposed the blockade in early March, accusing Hamas of stealing aid meant for civilians. Hamas rejects the charge, saying a number of its own fighters have been killed protecting the trucks from armed looters.
Yaqeen regularly shared videos of her work with Ouena collective, a Gaza-based non-profit organisation for humanitarian relief.
It follows an 11-week blockade on food, fuel, water and medicine, which has pushed the decimated civilian population of Gaza to the brink of famine, experts continue to warn
It has announced that a new system, sponsored by the United States and run by private contractors, will soon begin operations from four distribution centres in the south of Gaza, but many details of how the system will work remain unclear.
The U.N. has already said it will not work with the new system, which it says will leave aid distribution conditional on Israel’s political and military aims.
Israel has maintained a presence in Gaza since the Hamas-led massacre of October 7, 2023, which saw gunmen storm into southern Israel and kill some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seize 251 hostages.
It’s subsequent ground and air war has left Gaza in ruin, displacing nearly all its residents and killing more than 53,000 people, many of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.
