Just days before her final secondary school examinations, the house opposite the temporary home where 18-year-old Saba Rabah was living in central Gaza was bombed.
She and her family fled, leaving behind everything they had.
It was only the latest ordeal in a war that had already claimed her father's life, destroyed their family's home and forced them into repeated displacement.
Yet against overwhelming odds, Rabah emerged as the top-ranked student in the science stream of the Palestinian national high school exams, known as Tawjihi -- the first to be held in the territory since the war erupted in October 2023.
"I achieved a score of 99.9 percent, ranking first in the nation in the science stream," Rabah told AFP, dressed in her graduation gown as relatives and neighbours gathered to celebrate in Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.
