Saba Rabah, 18, topped the Palestinian Tawjihi exams' science stream with a 99.9% score despite losing her father, having her home demolished and being repeatedly displaced since October 2023. The Tawjihi were held in June across Gaza, the West Bank, Egypt and other countries for the first time in three years. Roughly 89,000 students sat this year's secondary exams, including over 25,000 in the science stream. Rabah hopes to study medicine and is seeking a full scholarship to honour her late father's dream.
Against All Odds: Gaza Teen Tops Tawjihi With 99.9% After Losing Father and Home
Palestinian student Saba Rabah celebrates with family at the Maghazi camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip (Eyad Baba)
Eighteen-year-old Saba Rabah has emerged as the top-ranked student in the Palestinian Tawjihi high school exams' science stream, scoring 99.9 percent despite two years of war, repeated displacement and the death of her father.
Achievement Amid Destruction
Rabah, from Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, celebrated her result in a modest gathering of relatives and neighbours while wearing her graduation gown. She dedicated the achievement to her late father, Fayed Rabah, and paid tribute to her mother, siblings and teachers.
'I achieved a score of 99.9 percent, ranking first in the nation in the science stream,' Rabah said. 'My ambition is to enter medical school — the dream my father had for me.'
Exams Held Under Extraordinary Circumstances
The Tawjihi exams were administered in June simultaneously across Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Egypt and other countries with Palestinian communities — the first unified sitting in three years. Around 89,000 students sat this year's secondary exams, including more than 25,000 candidates in the science stream.
Since fighting resumed in October 2023, most schools and educational facilities in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed by airstrikes and shelling. Many surviving schools have been repurposed as overcrowded shelters for displaced families, and tens of thousands of children have lost regular access to formal education.
Personal Hardship
Rabah's path to the top was carved out amid repeated uprooting. Her family was displaced multiple times after Israeli forces entered Al-Maghazi camp and their house was demolished in January 2024. Her father, a teacher at UNRWA schools, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in June 2024.
'We were displaced so many times that I can no longer remember the exact number,' Rabah said. 'There was so much displacement and fear... our house was destroyed. I lost half of my books, but I never gave up on my goals.' Power cuts and internet outages made study conditions precarious; at times she revised by the light of a mobile phone torch and travelled to other areas for private lessons and to sit exams.
Her mother, 52-year-old Feryal Ahmed Rabah, described the family's reaction: 'The joy is indescribable. I expected her to be among the top students, but she became the top student in all of Palestine. God blessed us by bringing joy back into our hearts through her outstanding achievement.' The family celebrated with music, clapping and photographs beneath a portrait of the late father.
Looking Ahead
Rabah hopes her result will secure a full scholarship to study medicine, fulfilling the ambition her father had for her. Her achievement has become a symbol of resilience for many in Gaza — a reminder of individual determination amid widespread devastation.
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