Child Profile: Heba Mustafa Al-Mahmoum

Name:  Heba Mustafa Al-Mahmoum 

Date of birth: 14 March 2007.

Date of death: 1 August 2014

Seven-year-old Heba from Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip was a very active and energetic child. She liked children’s songs, particularly, Toyor Al Janah, from a local children’s TV channel. She liked animals and was very concerned with them. Her ambition was to be a teacher. “She liked to take care with her looks and her clothes,” her grandmother said.

On 1 October 2014, there was a violent Israeli shelling. The Al Mahmoum family decided to evacuate their house. Civilian groups were targeted by Israeli shells while they were trying to find shelter within the UNRWA schools. People who managed to reach the school informed the others in the shelter about the killing of the Al Mahmoum family members, including Heba.