Ali al-Rantisi (‘Ali al-Rantīsī) ( علي تيسير الرنتيسي ), age 27, was a full-time teaching assistant in the Department of Geography and Geographic Information Systems at the Islamic University. He had been recruited to his teaching position as a young scholar and teacher of enormous promise, and his adult life as a university teacher and married man had just recently begun.

Mr. Rantisi was born on 1 January 1997 in Gaza City. He was educated in primary and secondary Gaza schools, and then at the Islamic University in Gaza, from where he graduated with a BA (2019) and an MA (2020) in Geography and Geographic Information Systems. He then became a full-time teacher at the university.

Mr. Rantisi was also known as a hafiz (a person who has memorized the entire Qur’an). He married his wife, Shahed Omar, in 2021. 

Israeli aircraft targeted his house in the al-Zaytun neighborhood in Gaza City on 11 October 2023, without prior warning. The bombing killed Mr. Rantisi along with his mother, Nadia Tafesh.

Photo credits: Gigaza; X