GAZA, (PIC)
Raghad Ashour did not know that Monday morning would bring the end to a dream that had accompanied her for long years, and that her name would be added to the list of martyrs before she could achieve her ambition of becoming a doctor.
In the Gaza Strip, where dreams intersect daily with death, students continue their educational journey despite the war and the fear and destruction it left behind, clinging to the hope of building a better future.
While Raghad was returning to her home, she was walking towards another fate that no one had imagined.
Raghad Ashour did not know that Monday morning would bring the end to a dream that had accompanied her for long years, and that her name would be added to the list of martyrs before she could achieve her ambition of becoming a doctor.
The previous evening, Raghad sat among her family members and her close friend Israa Marwan.
She laughed a lot, exchanged conversations and memories, and that calm joy that everyone was accustomed to appeared on her face.
No one realized that those hours would be the last, and that her smile would turn with sunrise into a painful memory. شاهد | جانب من تشييع جثمان الطالبة الشهيدة رغد عاشور في غزة بعد استهدافها بمسيّرة للاحتلال أثناء توجهها لتقديم امتحانها الثالث بالثانوية العامة pic.twitter.com/D26Ees0Ypv — المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) June 22, 2026 Assassination of an incomplete journey
On the following morning, the Israeli aircraft targeted a vehicle on Jawwal Company Street west of Gaza City during her return to her home, ending Raghad’s life before she could complete her educational journey, and before she could take the first steps toward the dream for which she lived for long years.
Raghad was not an ordinary student. She was the only daughter of her mother among five brothers, and she was studying in the eleventh grade, carrying a story that began with loss very early. When she was only in her second year, she lost her father who martyred in Egypt due to medical complications and fibrosis that affected him during a trip in which he combined study and treatment.
Raghad grew up without knowing her father’s features except through pictures, but one thing remained present in her life more than any picture, his dream that she inherited from him. She wanted to become a doctor.
Her aunt Um Mahmoud says with a voice weighed down by weeping, “Raghad never stopped working hard. She was studying with great determination, and bearing the fatigue in order to reach the average that qualifies her to enter the faculty of medicine. She saw in that the fulfillment of her father’s dream before it was her own dream.”
She adds with heartburn, “She always said that she wanted to become a doctor just as her father wished. He was a martyr of science, and she was following in his footsteps.”
As for her close friend Israa Marwan, she is still unable to comprehend the news.
She says, “She was with me last night. We sat for a long time, laughed a lot, and talked about the coming days, and she was preparing to attend her cousin’s wedding on Monday, and she was determined to stay with us for a longer time.”
She continues with a broken voice, “I woke up to the news of her martyrdom, I felt that the world had stopped. If it were anyone else, maybe I would have tried to accept the matter, but Raghad was with me just hours ago. She was laughing as if she was saying goodbye to us without us knowing.”
She describes her, saying, “She was one of the kindest people I have ever known, loving life, excelling in her studies, and of high morals. She was not like anyone else.” The dream of wearing the white coat
The shock did not stop at her friends, as her mother, who raised her daughter fatherless, was waiting to see her grow up and achieve her dream that she had long talked about.
She dreamed of seeing her outstanding daughter wearing the white coat and starting her journey toward medicine, but the war deprived her of that dream.
Her maternal uncle Majd Ashour says, “We are the ones who raised Raghad after the departure of her father. She lived carrying his dream, and died while clinging to it. She wanted to become as her father wanted for her.” Departure before the completion of the dream
Raghad departed, leaving behind an empty seat in her classroom, books she did not finish reading, a mother who will not see her daughter achieve the dream she waited for years, and friends who are still looking for an explanation for her sudden absence.
Israa repeats the question that has become repeated on the tongues of many in Gaza, “What is Raghad’s fault? Until when will we live this fear? We have become afraid even of walking in the streets.”
Raghad was unable to complete her educational stage or reach the faculty of medicine that she drew in her dreams, but she departed carrying a complete story of patience, struggle, and waiting.
The girl who lived her life searching for her father’s trace in pictures departed, for her journey to end by joining him, leaving behind an incomplete dream, and a pain that will remain for a long time in the hearts of all who knew her. The ministry of education mourns student Raghad Ashour and the two sisters Al-Safadi
The Ministry of Education and Higher Education mourned, with deep sorrow and grief, the student in the eleventh grade, Raghad Hussein Ashour, who rose as a martyr today, Monday, following a treacherous Israeli bombardment that targeted Gaza City.
The martyrdom of the student Ashour comes to join a series of continuous targeting against students, where just two days ago, the two student sisters, Zeina and Lana Hussein Al-Safadi, martyred in a similar Israeli bombardment that targeted the Gaza Strip, confirming that these crimes represent a flagrant violation of all international covenants and the basic human right to education and a safe life.
The ministry asked the international community and human rights and educational institutions around the world for an “urgent and immediate international intervention” to curb the Israeli aggressions, and provide full protection for students, educational cadres, and educational institutions facing continuous targeting.
The educational family with all its staff extended its deepest condolences and sympathy to the families of the female martyrs and their colleagues, asking the Almighty Allah to cover them with His vast mercy, dwell them in His spacious gardens, and inspire their families with patience and solace.