Tributes pour in for King’s graduate who died alongside his family after air raid in Gaza

A King’s College London graduate has died in Gaza alongside his family after becoming trapped under rubble when their house was destroyed in an air raid.

Dr Maisara Alrayyes, an alumnus of SOAS university and King’s College London, was left trapped with his family under concrete slabs after an air raid.

They were trapped for 30 hours, as the emergency services were unable to reach them in time due to the siege imposed by Israel, Metro reports.

Before his communications were cut off Alrayyes sent a final text message to KCL’s Justice For Palestine society: “Each moment I’m alive and I’m with my family, talking and laughing, I imagine the last few minutes for people who were alive before being bombarded and massacred by the Israeli occupation.

“And I imagine that all of those who were massacred, like us, were sitting at their home talking and laughing. Honestly, in the last few days, I’m starting to feel more terrified than ever. I imagine myself underneath the rubble, and I have a great fear of staying alive under the rubble.”

The 30-year-old’s mother, father and two sisters, one with her three children were under the rubble with Alrayyes, while his brothers Muayyad and Muhammad were assisting with the efforts to extract them for nearly two days. It is understood that his brothers have now also died.

Alrayyes graduated from King’s College London in 2020 with a Master’s in women and children’s health, as per his LinkedIn profile.

A friend of the Palestinian doctor has described him as a “very strong and sensitive” person who had “after graduating, returned to Gaza to provide women and children there with better healthcare.”

Tributes have flooded in for Dr. Maisara Alrayyes including several touching tributes from Ahmed Alnaouq: “My best friend Maisara came to London two months ago for his honeymoon. He was lively and happy.”

The following day he went onto say: “I am losing my mind. Israel bombed the house of my friend Maisara and killed all those who were inside three days ago. But two of his brothers were not inside.

“Now I received the news that Israel ALSO killed his two remaining brothers.”

Another tribute from Alanda Kariza reads: “Rest in power, my friend. A doctor who dedicated his whole life for Gaza. You have done so much and I am sorry the world failed you.”

Remembering Dr Alrayyes, King’s College London said: “It is with great sadness that we have learned that our alumnus, Dr Maisara Alrayyes and members of his family, were killed in Gaza. We send our deepest condolences to his surviving family and to all his friends within the King’s community and beyond.

“Dr Alrayyes joined King’s in 2019 when he was awarded a highly prestigious Chevening Scholarship, and undertook an MSc in Women and Children’s Health, which he completed the following year.

“During his time at King’s, his work was published in a number of high-profile journals, including the Journal of Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, and he was well respected and known among his colleagues for his dedication to improving healthcare for women and children in low-income and war-affected regions.”

King’s students affected by the ongoing events in the Middle East can find support here.

Featured image via X (formerly Twitter).

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