In Memory of Dr. Razan Barhoum

One year before her graduation, on August 6, 2022, Dr. Razan married engineer Omar Barhoum, with whom she shared her dreams of building a meaningful life. During this critical year, when she balanced married life and medical studies with great dedication, her academic success never faltered. According to her friends, she was a source of inspiration to those around her.

She dreamed of becoming a mother, of raising her children with love and faith, and of building a warm and peaceful home. When she was killed by the occupying forces, she had just turned 24 and was in the early months of her first pregnancy as a very young expectant mother. A sincere and devout person, Dr. Razan was also a memorizer of the Qur’an (hafiza). Her friends attest to her devotion to revising her memorization and her commitment to night prayers. They also emphasize her deep attachment to her mother; her life was almost entirely centered on earning her mother’s approval.

Her classmate and fellow young doctor, Dr. Shroook Hicazi[3], remembers her as follows:
“Razan Mohammed Barhoum, 24 years old, was more than just a friend; she was a shining example of kindness, determination, and faith. I met Razan at the Faculty of Medicine at Al-Azhar University. Through shared courses and our clinical training group, we quickly grew close. She was known for her impeccable manners, radiant smile, and her dedication to memorizing the Holy Qur’an.”

On March 25, 2024, Israeli occupation forces deliberately targeted the home of Dr. Razan Barhoum, killing her and her husband, engineer Omar Barhoum. With this attack, the occupation stripped her of her future, her profession, her dream of motherhood, and the life she had built with so much effort.

I recall that many Gazan doctors whose lives I have previously studied spoke of a horrifying fear: encountering their own children, family members, or friends among the wounded or the dead brought to hospitals. The same nightmare befell Dr. Razan’s friend, Dr. Shroook Hicazi. She was volunteering on duty at Al-Kuwait Hospital and lived through the very fear every Gazan doctor dreads:

“When the war began, communication between us was cut off. Razan, after a long struggle, was in the first months of her pregnancy and remained in her home in Rafah, protecting a precious hope. Then, on the morning of March 25, 2024, in the middle of Ramadan, reality struck me in the most brutal way. While I was on voluntary duty as a doctor at Al-Kuwait Hospital in southern Gaza, around 1 a.m., the bodies of martyrs were brought to the hospital. They were victims of relentless bombardment. Among them was Razan—my friend, my classmate, my spiritual sister. She had been killed in her sleep along with her husband Omar Barhoum, her unborn child, and other members of her family.

I will never forget the moment I shrouded her body with my own hands, writing her name on the cloth as tears streamed from my eyes. She was not just a friend; she was an embodiment of grace and resilience, someone who balanced her roles as a wife, a student, and a soon-to-be mother with extraordinary strength.”[4]

Dr. Razan was known for her strong presence, self-confidence, and humility. She was determined yet modest, remembered for her sincere support of others, her gentle smile, and her genuine character. The life of Dr. Razan Barhoum will always be remembered as the unforgettable, heart-wrenching memory of a young doctor whose dreams were stolen.

I would like to thank Dr. Reema Abudarıka, Dr. Ayşenur Özcan, journalist-author Mustafa Ekici and Sudenaz Coskun for their contributions.