Essa Waddah Hassan Abu Amer

Location Khan Younis

7-year-old Essa Waddah Hassan Abu Amer from Khan Younis was a shy and quiet little boy. He liked playing on the computer and with his play station. He loved drawing in his coloring books. His mother had recently set up a ‘rewards system’ for him to encourage him to study more. Essa’s grandmother recommended the rewards system because she was against spanking. Just before Essa was killed, he and his brothers were talking to their grandmother, who was in Qatar, on Skype. They were telling her what the Israeli military attacks were like.

On 29 July 2014, an Israeli warplane attacked the Al Dali high rise building. Most of the people who were in the building were killed in the attack. The Abu Amer family had evacuated their home in Abasan and relocated to Khan Younis in search of shelter. At the time of the attack on Al Dali, the Abu Amer family was living in Toyour Al Janna kindergarten, which is located adjacent to Al Dali. 16 people from the Abu Amer family were killed in the attack, including Essa.