Twin sisters set to attend University of Waterloo to complete their PhDs have died in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.

Dalia Ghazi Ibaid and Sally Ghazi Ibaid were planning to come to Waterloo to do their PhDs in System Design Engineering. They were both recipients of UWaterloo’s Student Relief Fellowship.

“Dalia and Sally were selected based on their outstanding academic achievement and demonstrated research potential,” read UWaterloo’s statement.

They were both killed in an airstrike on Dec. 5.