Nesreen Abdu

Their life

A mother and central figure in her family, Nesreen was known for her dedication to her children and home. Her death, alongside her children and grandchildren, is a devastating loss deeply mourned by her surviving relatives, especially her brother Ramy.

Nesreen Abdu was a Palestinian woman, a mother, a sister, and a beloved member of her community in Gaza City. She was the sister of Ramy Abdu, chairman of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, and part of a family deeply committed to dignity, justice, and the right to live in peace.

Nesreen dedicated her life to her home and her children. She was known by her neighbors as a gentle, nurturing woman—always with a warm smile, always thinking of others before herself. Her life was centered around her family. Her children—Ubaida, Omer, and Layan—were her pride and joy, and she raised them with love, resilience, and deep-rooted values in the face of ongoing hardship under occupation and siege.

She was also a devoted mother-in-law to Malak, and a caring grandmother to Siwar and Mohammed, her youngest lights in a life often marked by struggle. Nesreen cherished their presence in the home, filling the rooms with the sounds of laughter, storytelling, and lullabies.

Her life was brutally cut short in the early morning hours of 2024, when an Israeli airstrike bombed her home while she and her family were asleep. Nesreen, along with six members of her family, was killed instantly—leaving not just a physical void, but a gaping wound in the hearts of those who knew her and those who continue to fight for justice and remembrance.

Her name, along with her family's, now joins a long list of lives erased in the violence that has engulfed Gaza—but her memory will not be forgotten. She represents thousands of Palestinian mothers whose lives speak quietly, but whose deaths cry out for the world to listen.

How they died

Killed in an Israeli airstrike on her home in Gaza City

Nesreen was killed at around 4:30am when an Israeli missile struck her home in Gaza City, wiping out her entire family. The attack resulted in the complete destruction of the residence, leaving no survivors from her immediate household.

A plea from the family

In the case of Nesreen Abdu’s family, all members of her immediate household were tragically killed in the airstrike. From what is currently known, no direct survivors from within that household remain alive. However, Ramy Abdu, her brother, survives, and his voice has become one of grief, testimony, and advocacy. So while there may be no surviving relatives from inside her home, the plea of surviving family—especially from Ramy Abdu—stands as a powerful echo of mourning and demand for justice.

Why we remember them

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

References & sources