Zein was the youngest member of the al-Najjar family, a common family name in Gaza meaning “Carpenter” in Arabic.
They lived in Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip.
On October 10, 2023, 18 members of the family, including five children and three women, were killed and 23 others injured in an Israeli air strike on their home.
Zein was just two months old.
According to Airwars, a UK-based conflict monitoring organisation, there have been at least three al-Najjar families that have lost 10 or more members.
Among the hundreds of families killed since Israel began its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, at least 393 people were al-Najjars, as shown in the visualisation below.
I was shocked. I rushed home and saw a scene of utter destruction. I could not believe my eyes. Everybody was under the rubble. The house was completely pulverised. The bodies were reduced to shreds.