Since the cease-fire in October, Israeli forces have killed one child or teenager in Gaza every day on average, according to UNICEF. Raghad Ashour, an ambitious 17-year-old student, became one of them when she was hit by an airstrike as she walked home from school.
By James McManagan, , reposted from The New York Times, July 24, 2026
Transcript:
A mother grieves the loss of her teenage daughter in an Israeli strike in Gaza. In late June, Samha Ashour asked her daughter, Raghad, to pick up bread and herbs on her way home from school. She was killed crossing a busy street. The 17-year-old was a bright and ambitious student, according to her relatives and teachers.
But, like so many other young lives cut short by the violence in Gaza, a strike ended Raghad’s dreams of a better life. We obtained and verified graphic videos showing how the blast unfolded. In this security footage from a nearby internet lounge, people inside recoil from the impact of the initial strike.
The owner of the space runs out and starts recording on his phone. Another video shows Raghad’s body on the ground next to a black car. As crowds rush toward where she is, a final missile falls from the sky. Roughly two minutes passed between the first strike and the last strike.
The Israeli Army said it had been targeting a Hamas militant traveling in a vehicle. The army did not confirm whether it had killed its target. Local emergency services said three people had been injured in the attack. A spokesperson for Gaza’s health ministry told The Times that Raghad was the only person killed.
In a statement, the Israeli military said it regretted any harm to uninvolved civilians. Samha and her daughter shared this small space in an encampment for Gaza’s displaced. Raghad was about to enter her final year of high school, and she had just been accepted into her school’s artificial intelligence program.
According to UNICEF, at least one child or teenager has been killed on average every day since the cease-fire was announced nine months ago. Video and images provided by her family show a snapshot of how Raghad lived as a war raged around her.
Here, she is celebrating her last birthday at a restaurant in Gaza. She also volunteered as a mentor for younger children as part of a UNICEF program called youth champions. Raghad’s teacher told us about her dedication to her studies. Gaza’s education system has been decimated by the war. And Raghad’s school was one of the few still functioning after more than 90 percent were destroyed or damaged, according to UNICEF.
Raghad’s short life is now one of the many grim statistics in Gaza, leaving behind an exhausted family in a floundering cease-fire.
James McManagan is a video journalist with the New York Times
Jon Hazell is a video editor at The New York Times
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