Israeli gunfire kills Gaza girl and leaves displaced families fearing for safety

Eight-year-old Fatima al-Bayouk had finished her homework and was playing with cousins outside her grandmother’s home in Deir al-Balah when an Israeli bullet hit her neck. She ran back inside, trembling and bleeding, believing her cousin had been shot. The bullet lodged in her lung, and she died after spending a week in hospital.

Bayouk had been the only member of her immediate family to survive an Israeli air strike on their home in Khan Younis on 13 December 2023. Afterwards, she moved in with her grandmother, Safia Abo Amra, in central Gaza. Abo Amra told Middle East Eye that caring for the girl had helped her cope with losing her daughter and grandchildren. They cooked, walked and slept beside each other, developing a bond that made the child’s death especially devastating.

Concerned about reports of stray bullets around a UN school, Abo Amra had paid to enrol Bayouk at a local school and accompanied her there each day. Relatives remembered a cheerful, responsible child who enjoyed family celebrations and choosing clothes. Winter outfits they had recently bought remained unworn. Six months before Bayouk’s death, her uncle Masoud Abo Amra, who was born with a mental disability, was also killed by Israeli gunfire while visiting his sister in Khan Younis.

Middle East Eye reported that shooting from Israeli military positions, tanks and quadcopter drones has killed and wounded hundreds of civilians since the October 2025 ceasefire. Displaced families near the so-called Yellow Line described an increasingly persistent danger that affects activities as routine as remaining inside a tent or collecting food and water.

Zaid al-Kafarna, 19, and his family of 10 fled northern Gaza for Um Duhair, south of Deir al-Balah, shortly before the ceasefire. He said shooting that was initially occasional and distant had moved closer, becoming a daily threat over the past three months. Kafarna said he had narrowly escaped bullets several times. His friend and neighbour Mohammad Aqel was killed by a stray bullet a few weeks earlier while preparing to return to northern Gaza.

Kafarna’s mother, Shereen, was recently wounded by an Israeli bullet inside their tent. She described neighbours warning one another when shooting begins, then gathering children and lying on the ground. Zaid said gunfire from tanks and drones also scattered people waiting for supplies. Aid trucks sometimes drove away to escape the bullets, leaving families without food or water on those days.

Families interviewed by Middle East Eye questioned whether the shooting was intended to drive them away and enable further Israeli territorial expansion. The outlet reported that Israeli control of Gaza increased from 53 percent to 70 percent during the year after the ceasefire. Residents near the Yellow Line said the danger had already prompted several families to leave their camps.

For those remaining, relocation can be beyond reach. Shereen said her family had nowhere to go and could not afford transportation even if another destination were available. Some families have built small sand barriers or dug holes inside and between tents to shelter from gunfire, while facing concerns about whether those shelters will remain usable in winter.