Lurin Azzam Abuhalima

Their life

Lurin was a 30-year-old Palestinian woman from Gaza, remembered for her resilience and hope in the face of relentless war. Engaged to Khaled al-Masry, who worked in Cyprus, she longed for stability and had dreamed of starting a new life with him abroad. Despite surviving earlier strikes and displacement, she carried herself with strength and faith. Her life was tragically cut short while praying, just weeks before her planned wedding.

Born and raised in Gaza, Lurin lived through the hardships of war but continued to hold on to dreams of love and a better future. She was engaged to Khaled al-Masry, who worked in Cyprus, and the couple had postponed their marriage several times because of the unstable situation in Gaza. They were finally planning to wed in December and start a new life together abroad. Lurin’s life in Gaza had become a series of moves from one place to another in search of safety. She narrowly survived two airstrikes, one of which flattened her parents’ home in Gaza City on 16 October. Despite exhaustion, she stayed strong, relying on her faith and routines of prayer. On the day of her death, she told her fiancé she would shower, pray, and rest at her aunt’s home in Nusairat refugee camp. It was there, while praying, that an Israeli airstrike struck the house and ended her life. For her fiancé and family, her death was not only a personal loss but also a symbol of the countless interrupted lives in Gaza.

How they died

Lurin was killed in an Israeli airstrike while praying inside her aunt’s home.

After surviving two previous bombings, including one that destroyed her family’s home in Gaza City, Lurin sought shelter at her aunt’s house in the Nusairat refugee camp. On that day, she told her fiancé she would pray and rest. While she was praying in a room, the house was hit by an Israeli strike, killing her instantly. Her fiancé, devastated from afar in Cyprus, recalled how she had been preparing for their long-awaited wedding, a dream destroyed by war.

A plea from the family

He recalled that in their final conversation, Lurin told him she was exhausted from moving around for safety, and that she would shower, pray, and rest. He said she was killed while praying in her aunt’s home. He mourned the loss of their future together, explaining that they had postponed their wedding multiple times due to the war but had finally planned to marry in December and move to Cyprus. In his words: “She is now resting forever. She used to wear a white dress, but now is wearing a white shroud.”

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Lurin Azzam Abuhalima, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources