GAZA: A young woman in a white paramedic’s uniform was rushing into harm’s way to treat the injured and wounded demonstrator but was shot in the chest by Israeli Defense Forces on June 02, 2018.
21-year-old Palestinian Razan Ashraf Al Najjar, a field para medic was working in the Gaza health ministry without salary since the weekly ‘Great March of Return’ demonstrations in Gaza began on March 30. She was the first female medical responders to treat the protesters at the weekly demonstration.
A resident from the town of Khuzaa near Khan Yunis, Razan was the eldest of six children and a beloved daughter of Ashraf al-Najjar and mother Sabreen Al-Najjar.
Her father (44), had a shop that sold motorcycle parts, which was destroyed during the 2014 Israeli airstrike.
After failing to score well enough in her high school exams, she got trained for two years as a paramedic in Khan Younis hospital and became a volunteer of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, a non-governmental health organization.
Razan and her to-be fiancé Izzat Shatat were about to announce their engagement at the end of Ramadan.
In a rare interview to TRT, weeks before she was killed, Razan spoke about her daily life as a volunteer field medic in Gaza and with all pride, wanted to continue her work till the last day, she said.
A month ago, in a conversation with the New York Times, she said:
“We have a goal,” “to save lives and evacuate people. And to send a message to the world: Without a weapon, we can do anything.”
