“Don’t be afraid, stand here next to me”
Areej Hijazi The Electronic Intifada 28 October 2024
From L to R: Dr. Nahed al-Harazin, head of Al-Shifa’s gynecology department; Dr. Maisara Alrayyes, a member of Médecins du Monde; and Dr. Inas Mahmoud Yousef, a general practitioner.
As I write, I am filled with sorrow and grief at the martyrdoms of several of my colleagues: Dr. Inas Mahmoud Yousef, Dr. Maisara Alrayyes and Dr. Nahed al-Harazin.
I studied with them for several years at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, and they are among the many who have been killed by Israel during this genocidal war.
I am writing their obituaries now so their deaths are recorded for posterity.
Dr. Inas Mahmoud Yousef
Dr. Inas Mahmoud Yousef was 29 years old, a mother to three-year-old Hassan and pregnant with her second child when Israel killed her on 29 October 2023.
Just hours before her death, Dr. Inas posted a condolence message on Facebook for our colleague, Dr. Doaa Awad. She was sad and frustrated about the martyrdom of Dr. Doaa, whose home had been struck by an Israeli missile.
Who could have expected that just a few hours after posting this message, Dr. Inas would also be killed? An Israeli missile hit her three-story home, killing not only Dr. Inas, her son Hassan and her unborn child, but also her husband’s parents, his brother, his brother’s wife and their two children.
The only survivor was Inas’ injured husband, Dr. Ali al-Nweiry, an orthopedic surgeon. He now lives with a spinal cord injury and paraplegia.
After the attack, Dr. Ali woke up in the European Hospital as a patient, having lost everything.
Dr. Maisara Alrayyes
Dr. Maisara Alrayyes, 28, a beloved colleague, was killed on 5 November 2023, along with 11 family members, including his father and mother.
Dr. Maisara had also recently married. His wife, who was pregnant with their first child, was also killed in the airstrike.
I learned of Dr. Maisara’s martyrdom during an exhausting shift at Al-Shifa medical complex. An ambulance and civil defense team were headed to Dr. Maisara’s house, which had been bombed.
I was deeply shocked by this news, at losing one colleague after another.
That night, when Dr. Maisara and his family died, was a violent one. I did not learn until later that that same Israeli strike also killed my cousin, his wife and their daughters.
The next day, I read that Dr. Maisara’s two brothers couldn’t bear their family being under the rubble. They went to retrieve the bodies. But Israeli aircraft fired missiles at the brothers and killed them.
Dr. Maisara had a master’s degree in women and children’s health from King’s College London. He was passionate about community health and about improving health care access for women and adolescents in low-income areas.
In Dr. Maisara’s honor, a scholarship has been created at King’s College London in his name.
Dr. Nahed al-Harazin
Dr. Nahed al-Harazin was an obstetrician and gynecologist.
She served as head of the obstetrics and gynecology department at Al-Shifa Hospital and supervised my training there. Dr. Nahed was killed on 8 December 2023 by an Israeli attack, along with her mother, her two brothers and their wives and children.
Dr. Nahed and her family had refused Israeli orders to evacuate from the north to the south. Instead she persisted in her work at Al-Shifa and at Al-Helou International Hospital.
Dr. Nahed was dedicated to providing medical services to women and pregnant women, even to the extent of walking 4 kilometers from Shujaiya to Al-Shifa when no transportation was available.
I remember how she reassured me once when there was heavy shelling near Al-Shifa. She told me, “Don’t be afraid, stand here next to me.”
These three dedicated physicians have been taken from us. But their memories are alive in our hearts, and their work will continue to inspire us all.
Dr. Areej Hijazi is an obstetrician in Gaza.