Widowed twice: A Gaza mother’s story of loss and survival

Gaza City, Gaza — For three years, Nisreen Touman has gone to bed every night in tears, remembering all she has lost since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023.By the time Nisreen was 34, she had been widowed twice. First, she lost her husband and her two children in June 2024. Then in July 2025, eight months after she remarried, Nisreen lost her second husband while she was pregnant.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Satellite images show Gaza in ruins three years into Israel’s genocidal warlist 2 of 4Israeli settlers attack Jalud village in occupied West Bank pogromlist 3 of 4Palestine weekly: Israeli politicians vie to look toughest before electionlist 4 of 4Palestinian archaeologists race against time to save Gaza’s heritageend of listBefore Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, Nisreen lived a happy and stable life in her home in Nuseirat, central Gaza, with her husband, Sami, 35, and their two children, Mahmoud and Laith, who were aged five and two at the time of their deaths.“I had a home and a complete family. I got along with my husband, and we were friends,” she says, fighting back her tears.Everything changesOn June 8, 2024, Nisreen was returning home w...