After her parents, sister and husband were killed in a bombing, Lubnah prayed they would be the last victims of the war. Her father, Dr Marwan al-Sultan, was one of Gaza’s most respected medics, director of the Indonesian Hospital, and one of only two surviving cardiologists in the Strip.

On July 2, an Israeli bomb killed him, alongside his wife Dhikra, their daughter Lamees, his sister Amneh, and his son-in-law Mohammed, Lubnah’s husband.

The family had been sheltering in an apartment, in an area designated by Israel as “safe”, having evacuated their home in Jabalia in compliance with orders from the Israeli occupation forces (IOF). The so-called “Chalet area” of western Gaza City was once a place where families spent time at the beach, enjoying themselves, despite the daily trials of Israeli occupation.

The bomb targeted directly the room Dr Marwan was sitting in; no other part of the building was destroyed. Lubnah survived because she had gone downstairs to prepare food. Her brothers, Omar, Ahmad and Nimr also survived because they were outside the home.

The day before his death, upon hearing the news of a possible ceasefire, Dr Marwan shared a hopeful vision with his son, Omar.

“The first thing we’ll do [once a ceasefire is reached]........

© Al Jazeera