Dr. Avenal Elyan

Dr. Avenal Elyan is an internship doctor from the Gaza Strip who completed her medical education under the unimaginable conditions of war.

Throughout her clinical training, she continued learning despite constant danger, displacement, hunger, and uncertainty. Lectures often took place on hospital floors, surrounded by the realities of conflict, while medical teams cared for the injured and mourned those who had lost their lives. As she describes it, she carried “a book in one hand and our souls in the other.”

Each day begins before sunrise, not for convenience, but because reaching the hospital has become a long and unpredictable journey through damaged roads and limited transportation. Yet, despite these challenges, she continues to wear her white coat because she knows her patients are waiting.

Her experience as an internship doctor in Gaza has profoundly shaped her understanding of medicine. It has taught her patience, resilience, compassion, and responsibility. For Dr. Elyan, medicine is not only about diagnosing illnesses or prescribing treatments. It is about standing beside people during the hardest moments of their lives and doing everything possible to ease their suffering.

Although life in Gaza remains extremely difficult, Dr. Elyan continues to serve her community with hope and determination. She believes that, even in the darkest circumstances, it is still possible to make a difference and to keep working toward a better future.