'We cried instead of celebrating': War and loss shadow Gaza's top students

For most students, the General Secondary Education Certificate, known as Tawjihi in Palestine, marks the end of school and the start of a new chapter.

It is usually a time of celebration, relief and hope for the future.

In Gaza, nearly three years into Israel's genocide, the milestone has taken on a different meaning. For thousands of Palestinian students, simply surviving long enough to sit the exams and see the results announced became an achievement in itself.

For Saba Rabah, who topped Palestine's scientific stream with an average of 99.9 percent, the result fulfilled a childhood dream.

But the moment she had imagined for years was overshadowed by the absence of her father, who was killed in an Israeli strike on a neighbouring building in al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.

Since childhood, Rabah's parents had encouraged her to excel at school and dreamt of her becoming one of Palestine's top students.

"In my last conversation with my father, he told me he dreamed I would rank among the top students in the scientific stream and study medicine, just as I had always hoped," she told Middle East Eye. "He said he wanted to spend his retirement in my future clinic."

Like thousands of Tawjihi students across Gaza, Rabah studied under conditions that made even the most basic aspects of education a daily struggle.

Days before her final exams, an Israeli strike damaged the family's rented shelter, forcing her to study in the only room left intact - a space where the family also cooked, slept and spent most of the day.

"No words can describe the suffering of studying while starving or while fleeing," she said.

She recalled having to choose, during repeated displacement, between carrying her books, her mother's heart and blood pressure medication, or helping her 25-year-old brother, Saeed, who has quadriplegia.

'We want to study like everyone else. We want to live in dignity.'

- Saba Rabah, Palestinian student

Textbooks, stationery and even paper have become scarce, while unreliable electricity and internet access have made it even harder to study.

"It's hard for high school students to find even second-hand books because no new textbooks have entered Gaza for the past three years," she said.

"Even A4 paper is expensive. Two hundred sheets cost around $150. Everything is expensive."

But whenever she felt overwhelmed, her mother and siblings reminded her of her father's dream.

"Every family in Gaza has experienced grief. We have lost fathers, mothers, siblings and sometimes entire families. We didn't choose to live through this genocide, but we keep trying to live and hold on to the small moments because that is our right.

"The only solution is for the Israeli war to stop. We don't want to lose any more of our loved ones. We want to study like everyone else. We want to live in dignity."

Wounded but determined

Alongside repeated displacement, bombardment and loss, thousands of students sat their Tawjihi exams while recovering from injuries.

For Maram Muqit, from northern Gaza, the exams came just four months after an Israeli bullet lodged in her spinal cord, leaving her with hemiplegia.

"She was on her way back to the tent from a maths class when she was injured," her mother, Naheel, told Middle East Eye.

"Doctors told us she might never walk again if she remains in Gaza because of the lack of medical supplies."

Before she was wounded, Maram attended two makeshift schools despite the dangers of travelling across northern Gaza.

"Her father and I begged her not to go because we feared for her safety," her mother said. "But she insisted she couldn't waste any opportunity to learn."

When internet access was available, she downloaded lessons from YouTube and studied materials her teachers shared on WhatsApp.

Before the war, Maram and her family lived in Beit Lahia, but their home was destroyed during the first month of the Israeli attacks, forcing them to flee from one place to another. They now live in a tent in al-Atatra neighbourhood in the north of Gaza.

"She was like my right hand," her mother said. "She used to help me with cooking, fleeing and everything we had to do."

Maram is now undergoing rehabilitation at al-Wafa Hospital.

"It was exhausting for her to balance treatment with studying, but she still achieved an outstanding 96.6 percent," her mother said.

"When the results came out, we cried instead of celebrating. Her father and I tried to help her stand, but she still couldn't keep her balance."

The hospital later allowed Maram to spend a day with her family at their displacement camp.

"We had a small celebration with relatives and friends. When she returned to hospital, the doctors and other patients celebrated with her too. Some even brought her gifts."

Despite her result, Maram says her future remains uncertain.

'I am happy I achieved the grades I needed. But I am sad that I may never walk again'

- Maram Muqit, Palestinian student 

She dreams of studying dentistry, but fears her disability could prevent her from pursuing the career she has wanted since childhood.

"I am happy I achieved the grades I needed," she said. "But I am sad that I may never walk again.

"I hope I can get an electric wheelchair, travel abroad for treatment and go to university."

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Education, Israeli forces have wounded at least 28,293 students since October 2023.

Results never seen

While some students celebrated their achievements, others never lived to see their results.

Among them was Yahya Nasman, who scored 96.6 percent but was killed alongside five members of his family in an Israeli air strike on their home on al-Nasser Street in western Gaza City, a week before the results were announced in July. 

Two days before the attack, his uncle, Waleed, invited Yahya and another student from the family to celebrate the end of their exams.

Waleed said that it had been an exhausting year for his nephew, who studied while helping his family fetch water, collect firewood and survive the war.

'He wanted to study architectural engineering so he could help rebuild the homes destroyed in Gaza'

- Waleed Nasman, uncle of student killed in Israeli strike

Over pizza, Yahya spoke confidently about his future.

"He told me he was sure he would get high marks and wanted to study architectural engineering so he could help rebuild the homes destroyed in Gaza," Waleed said. 

He remembered him as the most caring member of the family.

"Whenever anyone needed help, he was there. As soon as he finished, he went straight back to studying."

The day before the strike, Yahya brought his six-year-old sister, Arwa, to play with Waleed's daughters.

Waleed said he never imagined it would be the last time he would see them alive. 

The following day, another of Yahya's brothers, 12-year-old Ayham, returned home to find the family house reduced to rubble. He ran back to alert his relatives.

"We rushed there hoping someone had survived," Waleed said. "My brother, his wife and their three children, including Yahya, were killed instantly.

"The force of the explosion threw parts of their bodies hundreds of metres down the street. I collected the remains of my nephews and nieces from the road and the displacement camps before burying them."

Five days later, the family learned Yahya had achieved one of the highest Tawjihi scores in Gaza.

What should have been a celebration became another funeral. His cousins, who had hoped to celebrate their success together, could not bring themselves to do so.

"Yahya was one of thousands of students who tried to build a future despite everything happening around them," Waleed said. "We want people around the world to help stop the attacks on Gaza. Every day more people are killed."

Despite a ceasefire agreed in October to pause the two-year genocide in Gaza, Israel has continued to bomb the strip on a near-daily basis.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 1,200 people since the ceasefire began. 

Overall, the Israeli army has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians since October 2023. They include nearly 19,000 students and around 800 teachers and education workers, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Education.

The ministry says Israeli attacks have also damaged or destroyed 279 schools, leaving Gaza's education system in ruins.