Rimas Al-Qudra
Age 14
Rimas was 14 years old. She, along with Jana, was in the Top 3 highest-achievers in her grade. She loved mathematics—genuinely loved it—and participated in competitions, winning many. She answered questions in a chaotic rush, talked in a voice that made everyone turn, cried when she couldn’t solve a problem and then tried again until she could. She was afraid of birds and allergic to feathers. She was afraid of crossing the street and would wait until it was completely empty. She loved the color pink—her bag and all her belongings were pink. She loved winter and hated summer, except for the beach. She was bad at drawing and made her teacher draw for her. She fed stray cats at school even though she was afraid of them. She loved food. She had bronze skin and freckles. She sat near the back of the class and kept laughing. She dreamed of becoming a doctor to help children.
Rimas was trying to leave Gaza with her family. News of families being murdered on the way to Rafah had already spread. Rimas studied, prepared, and waited—doing everything a fourteen-year-old could do to be ready for the future she wanted. The routes south were under bombardment, and even babies were being shot at checkpoints. But the Al-Qudras decided that trying to leave immediately was even more dangerous.
Rimas was killed with her family in Khan Younis on October 29, 2023 by a missile strike while they slept. She was fourteen. She had bronze skin and freckles and she was afraid of birds and she loved math and she wanted to be a doctor and she died in her sleep.
She was martyred alongside her mother and father Sabreen and Muhammad, her sister Nagham, and her brothers Ahmed, Abdul Rahman, Abdullah, and Hassan. They were all murdered in the same missile barrage. Until at least early January 2024, Rimas is one of at least 63 members of the Al-Qudra family—including Shaimaa, who was eight months pregnant—who were murdered.
Even saying they only viewed Rimas as a “coordinate” gives them an excuse they don’t deserve. These men used high-resolution optics from drones and cameras all over Gaza to track the lives and faces of nearly every person. They saw every home, they saw the children inside, and they chose to destroy every child. It is the same predatory nature you saw in the car with Layan Hamadeh (15) and Hind Rajab (6). There is no “tactical” reason to fire hundreds of rounds into a car full of children. It is a choice made by figures that find a sick, sadistic satisfaction in the absolute power of life and death over little girls.
The votes that paid for the weapons
House Bill, H.R. 6126 (House): Emergency supplemental appropriations for Israel