Omar was born in the village of Khuza’a, east of Khan Younis, near the border fence separating Gaza from Israel. While most residents worked in agriculture, his family prioritized education for all five children—three daughters and two sons, including Omar. Yet their childhood, like that of many in Gaza, was shaped by recurring cycles of conflict.
In 2017, Omar finished high school and entered medical college. After graduating, he planned to continue his studies in the UK, but the war brought those plans to an abrupt end.
On October 8, 2023, Omar and his family fled their home under artillery shelling and direct threats. Their house was later destroyed, and members of his extended family were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
He began working around the clock at Nasser Medical Complex, the second largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, treating mostly women and children under relentless bombardment.
“We triaged patients by severity of their injuries, then treated them: stopping bleeding, stitching wounds, splinting fractures, checking for internal bleeding, ordering X-rays and laboratory tests,” he recalls.
The workload quickly became overwhelming, forcing Omar to live in the hospital. Soon, Nasser Medical Complex also turned into a refuge, sheltering thousands of displaced people who slept in corridors, courtyards, and patient rooms. During night shifts, Omar had to step over sleeping bodies just to reach the emergency room.
“What has the war done to me?” he asks. “How did I turn from a medical intern full of dreams into someone who must announce deaths every day and face cases beyond anything I imagined? All my plans have disappeared.”
Working amid chronic shortages of electricity, fuel, medicines, and sterile supplies, Omar provided emergency care and bedside procedures for civilians wounded by airstrikes and shelling. He assisted overburdened senior doctors and helped international medical delegations navigate the hospital thanks to his English proficiency.
His dedication drew international attention. In late 2023, he became one of several Gaza physicians who joined a U.S. federal lawsuit seeking to compel changes in U.S. policy toward the war, though the case was later dismissed on jurisdictional grounds.
Omar’s story reflects the courage and profound humanitarian commitment of medical professionals working in Gaza under some of the most challenging conditions in the world.