Nisreen Touman widowed twice and lost two children in Gaza military operations

Nisreen Touman was widowed twice and lost her two children during Israel’s military operations in Gaza. By the time she reached age 34, she had endured two distinct family tragedies, losing her first husband and two children in June 2024 and her second husband in July 2025.

The June 2024 Nuseirat Raid And Family Deaths

On June 8, 2024, Nisreen was returning home with her husband, Sami, 35, and their children, Mahmoud and Laith, after visiting displaced relatives in al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, Al Jazeera reported. Israeli forces launched a military operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp that day to rescue four Israeli captives. According to the United Nations, 89 inhabited houses and residential buildings were targeted during nearly four hours of bombing, while Gaza’s Health Ministry recorded 274 Palestinians killed and 698 wounded.

Sami was killed by a gunshot to the head from a quadcopter outside their home, Al Jazeera reported. Minutes later, an Israeli airstrike hit the house where 25 family members were sheltering. Nisreen survived the blast but lost both of her children, aged five and two, alongside 18 members of her husband’s family, including her sister Sabreen, 36.

Nisreen Marries Her Sister's Husband to Care for Children

Following the first attack, Nisreen lived alone in a tent in al-Mawasi before agreeing to marry her late sister’s husband—who was also her first husband’s brother—to help care for her sister’s four children, Al Jazeera reported. She described the union as a practical arrangement born of shared grief rather than romance, noting that she eventually decided to become pregnant again to experience motherhood once more after seeing her deceased children daily in her dreams.

Current Life With Daughter Sidra In Gaza

Four months after Mohammed’s death, Nisreen gave birth to their daughter, Sidra, Al Jazeera reported. She now lives with Sidra at her family’s home in Gaza, while her late sister’s four children reside with their grandfather, whom she visits periodically.

Becoming a mother again brought me joy, but that feeling was deeply incomplete. She was a little compensation.

Al Jazeera