- In the early hours of 16 January, Ihab Marwan Kamal Faisal and his family were killed in Gaza by an Israeli airstrike. Ihab was a staff member of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), a member organisation of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).
- FIDH and its 188 member organisations mourn this terrible and tragic loss and extend their condolences to all staff members at PCHR. FIDH demands accountability at the international level for the Israeli airstrike that killed Mr. Faisal and his family.
- Two other PCHR staff members in Gaza were killed by the Israeli military, Nour Naser Abu Al-Nour and Dana Yaghi, in February 2024 alongside dozens of their family members.
17 January 2025. At around 2:00 am on 16 January, Ihab Marwan Kamal Faisal, 33, his wife, Hanin Jamal Al-Dahdouh, 29, and his two children, Reem, 6, and Najma, 3, were killed by an Israeli airstrike while they were taking shelter in a house in Al-Remal Neighbourhood in Gaza city. Ihab was a staff member at PCHR, a Gaza-based member organisation of FIDH. He and his family had suffered injuries in a previous attack on 7 September 2024, while two of his brothers-in-law were killed. FIDH and its member organisations mourn their death and extend their condolences to all staff of PCHR.
“The cold blooded murder of Ihab, his wife Hanin and their little girls is a tragedy beyond words, we are all in mourning,” says Alice Mogwe, president of FIDH “Even with the ceasefire looming, this genocide is ongoing. Israeli forces feel entitled to commit such atrocities openly because they believe there will be no serious consequences. Like millions of Gazans, despite their innocence, their strength, and their dreams, Ihab and Hanin were powerless, at the mercy of an army equipped by Western powers which denied them and their daughters even the right to life. Israel has killed children and their parents with impunity since the start of this heinous war and, even well before it. We ask the international community to do everything it can to make it stop. The International Criminal Court (ICC) must also be supported in its work to hold all those responsible accountable.”
Also on 16 January, the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) announced that the Director of their Gaza and North Office, Raafat Salha, died from his injuries, alongside 12 family members including his wife and four children in an Israeli strike that occurred on Tuesday. FIDH mourns their loss as well.
The killing of Ihab and his family, despite the announcement of a ceasefire, shows the unrelenting dangers faced by the people in the Gaza Strip, and must serve to remind the international community to ensure that all parties fully adhere to the terms of the ceasefire once it is in effect.
FIDH calls on the ICC Office of the Prosecutor to investigate the killing of Ihab Marwan and of his family, alongside that of PCHR staff members Nour Naser Abu Al-Nour and Dana Yaghi and their respective families to bring accountability for these heinous crimes.
Our colleagues and their children deserve justice.
