When Will This End? Niveen's Story of Loss, Strength, and Survival in Gaza — Echoing the Losses of 1 Million Gazan Women

Niveen’s story is a story of a million women in Gaza, each enduring unspeakable losses. As a paramedic, she has been a beacon of strength, rushing into danger even when her own world was falling apart. She lost 80 family members in a single day on 22 November 2023, many who were trapped and survived for days under rubble, but ultimately didn’t make it. She was the only one able to try to reach them, yet her efforts could not save everyone.
Niveen has been displaced multiple times, a witness to horror upon horror. She saw Kamal Adwan Hospital bombed by Israeli tanks, a place that should have been a sanctuary.

a heartbreak that echoes across Gaza.
One harrowing memory is the day she sought refuge in a UNRWA school shelter in Jabalia. They were ordered to evacuate within an hour. Yet, just ten minutes later, bombs fell, killing 30 people, including many children. Though injured herself, Niveen continued to provide support to others in that devastating aftermath.
Each story she shares feels almost unimaginable, yet it is her reality. She recalls a little boy, begging her not to cover his deceased mother, pleading with her to wake her up because he was hungry, “tell her I am hungry, who will feed me if you leave?”. Niveen held the haunting task of burying children without their families, taking photos of their faces, hoping to preserve their identities in case any family survived.
Niveen has served in eight different shelters in northern Gaza, all of which were eventually bombed. Her story is a testament to the strength of women who, despite endless suffering, remain committed to preserving life in any way they can. But her question,

is one shared by every woman, child, and family in Gaza who continues to endure this cycle of loss and displacement.