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Islam Hijazy, an aid worker who was shot dead in a suspected case of mistaken identity in southern Gaza on Friday, was a “dedicated, hardworking, compassionate” humanitarian and a “proud Arab Palestinian woman,” according to her colleague.

Steve Sosebee, the founder of HEAL Palestine, told CNN he had worked with Hijazy for more than a decade. “She was the mother of two children, that brought her the most joy in life,” he added.

The Israeli offensive displaced Hijazy and her children, Maria and Mohamed, several times, Sosebee said. They fled northern Gaza in the early days of the war, he said, separating her from her husband, who was unable to travel.

“Under bombing by tanks, she escaped with her children, carrying one in each arm, and tanks were firing at the neighborhood, and she lost her shoe, and was so scared that she fled and did not go back to get it.”

Before she was killed by a group of armed men, according to witnesses, Hijazy had told Sosebee the challenges of raising children under Israel’s bombardment, which has triggered mass displacement into tent camps. “She was talking about the tent that her and her family were living in. (It) was flooded from the rains.