Mahmoud Ashraf Mustafa Gharbiyah, 15, Jenin Refugee Camp, 14 January 2025
On 14 January 2025, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a group of people sitting around a fire in the yard of a house in Jenin Refugee Camp, after the military cut off power to the camp a month earlier. The missiles killed Mahmoud Ashraf Mustafa Gharbiyah, four members of armed groups and another person, and wounded four others. At the time of the strike, no military forces were present in the camp, and no clashes were taking place.
Samira Gharbiyah, Mahmoud’s mother, 46, a mother of six, recounted in a testimony she gave B’Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi on 27 March 2026:
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Mahmoud Ashraf Mustafa Gharbiyah. Photo courtesy of the family
We live in Jenin Refugee Camp, near al-‘Awdah Square on the western side of the camp. When my son Mahmoud was killed, the Palestinian Authority and Israel were carrying out a military operation in Jenin Refugee Camp to arrest young resistance fighters who were wanted by Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Palestinian security forces surrounded the camp and cut off the electricity.
On 14 January 2025, shortly before he was killed, Mahmoud woke up and made instant coffee for me, his sisters and himself, even though I’m usually the one who makes instant coffee for all of us every morning. That day he stayed at home until evening. Because there was no electricity and it was cold, the neighbors used to gather in the yard in the evening and light fires to keep warm. The kids would come, and each brought tea or coffee and cookies from home.
At around 10:00 P.M., while my husband and Mahmoud were sitting there by the fire, I was at home with our two daughters and some neighbors who came to visit us. Suddenly, we were stunned to hear a missile fired from an Israeli drone. The missile exploded and shattered the windows of our apartment, and glass shards scattered over us as we sat in the living room.
We were very frightened, and I immediately got up and ran outside to where my son and husband were sitting around the fire with our neighbors to keep warm. What I saw when I went out was horrifying. But what horrified me the most was seeing my son Mahmoud lying on the ground. Fragments had penetrated and torn his head and his body.
Mahmoud was a quiet and shy boy. When my friends and neighbors came to visit me, he always felt awkward and went out, even though I tried to encourage him to stay. He and his father were very close, and he used to go with his father everywhere he went. He used to make us laugh and brought happiness and joy to his sisters and me.
Mahmoud loved my Scottish cat very much and always took care of him. He’d bring him special food, take him to the vet and look after him regularly. Sadly, our beloved cat was also killed by the fragments from the missile that killed my son.
Four other young men, our neighbors, were killed that evening. Three of them were brothers.
A week after Mahmoud’s death, Israeli forces stormed our camp and forced everyone out. We were displaced and had to seek shelter in centers that were opened to receive IDPs, until we managed to rent an apartment. Now my husband, our daughters and I live in the al-Hadaf neighborhood in the city of Jenin.
