A six-year-old Palestinian girl who should have been preparing for Eid celebrations was instead carried to her grave in a white burial shroud after an Israeli airstrike struck a tent sheltering displaced civilians in southern Gaza.
Mennatallah Abu Libda was killed on May 25 when an Israeli strike hit a tent encampment in the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis, according to Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses. A 31-year-old woman, Hanan Mahmoud, was also killed, while at least 17 others, including children, were wounded.
Witnesses said two Israeli helicopters carried out the strike on the camp housing displaced families. The Israeli military stated it had targeted “militants in the area” but provided no evidence or further details regarding the alleged target.
Images from Khan Younis showed grieving relatives gathered around the child’s body wrapped in white cloth as mourners carried her through crowds of devastated family members.
The killing of Mennatallah sparked widespread outrage online, with many Palestinians sharing the words: “Instead of wearing Eid clothes, six-year-old Mennatullah Abu Lebda was wrapped in a burial shroud.”
The strike took place in Al-Mawasi, an area Israel had previously designated as a humanitarian zone for displaced Palestinians fleeing bombardment elsewhere in Gaza. Despite that designation, the area has repeatedly come under attack during the war, with tent camps sheltering displaced civilians struck multiple times.
More than 72,000 Palestinians have now been killed in Gaza since October 2023, with over 172,000 injured. Independent studies published in The Lancet and cited by international researchers suggest the real number may be substantially higher because many bodies remain buried under rubble and because indirect deaths caused by hunger, disease, and the collapse of medical services are difficult to fully document.
A peer-reviewed study published earlier this year estimated that more than 75,000 people were violently killed in Gaza during the first 16 months of the war alone, with thousands more dying from starvation, untreated illness, and the destruction of healthcare infrastructure. Researchers concluded that women, children, and elderly people made up the majority of the dead.
Although a ceasefire agreement brokered in October 2025 formally reduced large-scale combat operations, violence has continued almost daily. Gaza health officials say at least 900 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect, while thousands more have been wounded.
Analyses of ceasefire violations indicate that Israeli attacks have continued across much of the territory despite the truce. Aid deliveries have also remained severely restricted, worsening the humanitarian crisis for Gaza’s more than two million residents, many of whom remain displaced and living in makeshift camps.
For many Palestinians, the death of Mennatallah Abu Libda has become another symbol of the war’s devastating impact on children in Gaza, where entire families continue to live under the constant threat of bombardment even in areas previously declared safe zones.
