Artist Hazem Harb and his niece, Lara, whose head was struck by shrapnel during an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. Photo: Hazem Harb
Artist Hazem Harb and his niece, Lara, whose head was struck by shrapnel during an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. Photo: Hazem Harb
Artist Hazem Harb and his niece, Lara, whose head was struck by shrapnel during an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. Photo: Hazem Harb
Artist Hazem Harb and his niece, Lara, whose head was struck by shrapnel during an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. Photo: Hazem Harb

Artist Hazem Harb's 10-year-old niece killed by Israeli airstrike in Gaza: 'I lost my trust in humanity'


Razmig Bedirian
  • English
  • Arabic

On July 17 – his birthday – Hazem Harb received news that his family in Gaza had been hit by an Israeli strike. His niece Lara, 10, suffered injuries that would claim her life two days later. His sister, Huda, remains in critical condition.

The Palestinian artist, known for confronting loss through his work, now finds himself mourning the ineffable.

“I am the one who named Lara,” Harb, who lives in Dubai, says. “When she was born, my sister Huda asked me to name her. I am close to my sister and I had a profound connection to Lara. She was an incredibly smart and beautiful child. She was the first in her class. I could write a book about her.”

Huda and her children were returning from a visit to their sister’s house on Thursday when the airstrikes hit. The visit was meant to be a small relief – a respite from the monotony and fear brought on by Israel’s war on Gaza.

A 2017 photo of Lara with a page from her colouring book. Photo: Hazem Harb
A 2017 photo of Lara with a page from her colouring book. Photo: Hazem Harb

“The children were getting restless. Like many children in Gaza right now, they have no toys or anything to distract them. They are home most of the time so, naturally, they get restless and bored,” Harb says. “Lara asked my sister to get them. Huda took them to my older sister’s house.”

While Lara's two sisters and brother survived the airstrike with minimal injuries, her head was struck by shrapnel. “She remained under intensive care for nearly two nights,” Harb says. “We didn’t have much hope. She was breathing, but she was unconscious. We received news on Saturday that she was martyred.”

Huda, meanwhile, suffered significant injuries to her stomach and head.

“Huda is now in intensive care. We moved her to a house because there is no proper hospital or infrastructure to care for her. She can’t process anything right now. Her injuries are extremely dangerous, and she can’t yet process that she lost her daughter.

“There are no words left to describe the horror we are living and the loss my family and I have endured,” Harb adds. “Lara was the entire world to her parents and to our family. She is one of tens of thousand of children slaughtered by this monstrous state. Each of them, the entire world to their families, and each of them mattered.”

Hazem Harb at his 2024 solo exhibition Gauze in Dubai. Photo: Tabari Artspace
Hazem Harb at his 2024 solo exhibition Gauze in Dubai. Photo: Tabari Artspace

This tragedy, he points out, is one of innumerable ones ripping families apart in Gaza. Their deaths are not tragic mistakes, but the result of systematic brutality by Israel.

At least 59,029 Palestinians have been killed and 142,135 wounded since October 2023. According to a May report by Unicef, more than 50,000 children were either killed or injured in the Palestinian enclave.

“Everyone is starving to death, literally,” Harb says. “Feelings have almost no meaning. Sadness, loss and grief are almost secondary because you are dying from the inside. You are dying from hunger, so all feelings are mixing incomprehensibly together.

“I lost my trust in humanity,” he adds. “How can this happen? How can this happen in today’s world? We aren’t learning from history. We are seeing these horrors on our screens. I have no hope, no trust in humanity.”

Tabari Artspace, the Dubai gallery that represents the artist, issued a statement in response to the tragedy.

“This devastating loss is a painful reminder of the reality thousands face daily in Gaza,” the gallery posted on Instagram. “Children and innocent people continue to die – from bombs, from starvation, from systemic violence. These are not just headlines. These are lives. This demands our attention, our outrage and our compassion. No forgiveness.”

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This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home. 

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Ruwais timeline

1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established

1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants

1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed

1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.  

1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex

2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea

2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd

2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens

2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies

2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export

2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.

2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery 

2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital

2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13

Source: The National

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Stage: 1 ($100,000)

Investors: Two first-round investors including, 500 Startups, Fawaz Al Gosaibi Holding (Saudi Arabia)

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Engine: 3.7-litre V6

Transmission: seven-speed automatic

Power: 363hp

Torque: 560Nm

Price: Dh184,500

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7. Self-sufficiency in Dubai homes

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How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
  1. Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
  2. Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
  3. Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
  4. Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
  5. Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
  6. The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
  7. Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269

*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year

Updated: July 21, 2025, 1:55 PM