Do you know an incredible woman – a charity activist, entrepreneur, teacher or healthcare worker who goes above and beyond – who deserves recognition? Then you can nominate her for the Inspiring Women Awards 2024.

Find out more at dailymail.co.uk/inspirational women2024. And we can today announce that the five winners will attend a WOW Foundation event at Buckingham Palace in March to celebrate International Women's Day.

She may only be 25, but Muzoon Almellehan has overcome more obstacles in her life than many women face in their entire lives.

What makes Muzoon so impressive, however, is not only that she has embraced every challenge with determination, but that she strives to inspire others every day.

From the moment she arrived in a refugee camp at the age of 14, Muzoon has fought long and hard for the rights of children – especially girls – to education.

Her fight was so successful that Unicef ​​appointed her a Goodwill Ambassador at the age of 19 in recognition of her fight. Her fellow ambassadors include actors Orlando Bloom and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

Muzoon's goal is that every child has the opportunity for education. It can be something we take for granted. But this Newcastle University graduate knows all too well that things are very different in many parts of the world.

“Education is not a privilege, it is a right,” says Muzoon, who lives in Newcastle with her teacher father and younger siblings.

“Every child deserves to be kept safe and deserves an education. I will never stop speaking out for all those children around the world who have no voice.”

Muzoon was only eleven when war broke out in Syria in March 2011 and her happy life disappeared in an instant.

“Up until then, life was completely normal,” she says. 'Dad was a teacher. Mother kept the house. I was just like any other kid: I went to school and hung out with my friends. I wanted to become a journalist.

'I didn't have to worry about anything. I didn't know how lucky I was.

'But when the war started, our lives were turned upside down. Suddenly it was no longer safe to leave the house to go to school because you could be killed. Even going to the shops was dangerous.

'And there were weeks when there was hardly any food. Basics like bread simply disappeared. Everything I had taken for granted was gone. The bombardment was so intense that you knew you could die at any moment.'

The family endured these daily horrors for three years before fleeing. Although her parents were convinced that this was their only hope of survival, leaving their home was deeply distressing.

“I couldn't bear the thought of leaving my beautiful home and my school,” says Muzoon. 'Life was terrible, but it was all I knew. This was going into the unknown.”

Following her father's instructions to pack only the essentials and determined to stick to her dream of an education, the then 14-year-old Muzoon loaded her schoolbooks into her backpack. There were more than ten of them, making the bag almost impossible to carry.

The family drove to the Jordanian border and joined 5.3 million other refugees. Ten kilometers across the border they found themselves in Zaatari, one of the largest refugee camps in the world. Their new home was a tent with no electricity or internet. Water came from a central tank.

'We were used to space and privacy. Now we all had to sleep together and share a kitchen with others,” says Muzoon.

'We were in the middle of the desert. It was scorching hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter. But my father kept reminding us how lucky we were to be alive.”

Within a month, the first school was opened in the camp, supported by Unicef. Muzoon was ecstatic.

However, the camp school consisted of nine mobile homes, each with a different class, it was chaotic. “Refugees came and went all the time,” says Muzoon. 'One day there were thirty students in my class, the next day only twenty.'

But Muzoon surrendered, determined to keep her dream of going to college alive.

'Having a goal has really helped me cope. Instead of focusing on the present, I dreamed of the future when I could return to Syria.”

She was also keen to encourage other children at the camp to do the same. 'When I went to my first lesson, I saw that many of the children I had seen in the tents were not there. I soon learned that some girls, even girls as young as thirteen, married men in the camp instead of going to school.

'They talked about it as if it was normal. Their families thought marriage would protect them. I also discovered that there was a general attitude in the camp: “We have lost our homes and are refugees. It is not our right to get an education.”

'Why would you let the war take everything away? Nothing should take away your knowledge. And as refugees, we needed education more than ever to face the challenges and suffering in our lives.

'There was a friend of mine at school, a very good student. One day she stopped coming. It wasn't until I asked other girls that I found out she was married. She was 14, just like me. I felt so sad.'

Undeterred, Muzoon continued her campaign when the family was transferred eighteen months later to Azraq, a camp consisting of rows of tin huts.

Every day she toured the camp, talking to parents about sending their children to school and encouraging the girls to go to school.

“I told them there is no better protection than education,” she says. “I explained that one day we would need a generation of engineers, doctors and teachers to rebuild Syria.

“There was a girl who was going to marry a man old enough to be her father. It wasn't what she wanted. When I told her she had a choice, she was able to convince her parents to let her stay in school and not get married.”

But above all, Muzoon dreamed of escaping the camp. The opportunity came in 2015, when then-Prime Minister David Cameron offered to resettle up to 20,000 Syrian refugees. Ten weeks later, her family was on a plane to Newcastle with eight other families.

Given refugee status with a five-year visa, everything was arranged so that the family could settle easily and within a week of their arrival, Muzoon and her siblings started school.

The culture shock was enormous. But thanks to her own resilience and the support of the Kenton School staff, she thrived.

In 2018 she took up her place at the University of Newcastle. Now, with a master's degree in International Relations, Muzoon works full-time for her municipality helping asylum seekers and migrants, and travels the world in her UNICEF role, campaigning for children's rights.

She visits refugee camps where she hopes to instill the same passion for education in others.

“I tell them life will get better,” she says. 'I was in their place; I know how they feel, but I tell them there is life ahead.

“I hope that one day I will hear how they became engineers, doctors, lawyers and teachers and returned to their homes to build new lives.”

Muzoon recently returned to the camp she left as a teenager. Reuniting with her old teachers and discovering how they use her story to inspire students was a testament to how far she has come.

“I would like a career in politics or media,” she says. 'I hope I am living proof that one small person can make a difference.

'When I started I just had my voice, but I was determined to be heard. By talking to my friends and classmates, a movement gradually grew that cannot be silenced.”

Nominate your inspiring woman

To make a nomination, complete this form online, or use the form below and send it to us by email or post. Tell us in a maximum of 400 words – on a separate sheet – why your candidate should win.

To enter your nomination online, visit dailymail.co.uk/inspirationalwomen2024; email your entry to: inspirationalwomen@dailymail.co.uk, or send your nomination to: spiring Women Awards, c/o Femail, Daily Mail, 9 Derry St, London W8 5HY.

The closing date for entries is Wednesday February 14, 2024 at 11:59 PM. The editor's decision is final.

PRICES: Each winner will receive a crystal trophy and a £500 M&S gift voucher. There are no cash alternatives to the prizes. Full terms and conditions apply. Read this before heading to dailymail.co.uk/inspirationalwomen2024.

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The release was expected to be followed by the exchange of another ten hostages in Gaza for thirty Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: International mediators worked Wednesday to extend the ceasefire in Gaza and encourage Hamas militants to continue freeing hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and further relief from Israel’s air and ground offensive. Otherwise the ceasefire will end within a day. Two Russian-Israeli women released by Hamas entered Israel on Wednesday evening, the military said. The release was expected to be followed by the exchange of another ten hostages in Gaza for thirty Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Israel has welcomed the release of dozens of hostages in recent days and says it will maintain the ceasefire if Hamas continues to free prisoners. Still, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underlined on Wednesday that Israel will resume its campaign to eliminate Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for 16 years and orchestrated the deadly attack on Israel that sparked the war.

“Will Israel return to the fight after this phase of returning our abductees is exhausted? So my answer is an unequivocal yes,” he said. “It is impossible that we will not continue to fight until the end.”

He spoke ahead of a visit to the region planned this week by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to push for further extensions of the ceasefire and the release of hostages.

In the West Bank, Israeli forces killed two Palestinian boys — an 8-year-old and a 15-year-old — during an attack on the city of Jenin, Palestinian health officials said. Security footage showed a group of boys on the street starting to run, except for one who fell to the ground bleeding.

The Israeli army said its forces fired at people who threw explosives at them, but did not specify whether it was referring to the boys, who were not seen throwing anything. In addition, the army said its forces killed two Islamic Jihad militants during the attack.

Weeks of heavy bombing and a ground invasion destroyed large parts of Gaza and killed thousands of Palestinians. But it appears to have had little effect on Hamas’s rule, evidenced by Hamas’s ability to conduct complex negotiations, enforce ceasefires between other armed groups, and orchestrate the release of hostages. Hamas leaders, including Yehya Sinwar, have likely moved south.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are now crammed into southern Gaza, with about three-quarters of them driven from their homes. The ceasefire has led to a mad rush to secure supplies to feed their families, as aid arrives in greater but still insufficient quantities. The fear hangs over everyone that fighting will soon resume.

An Israeli ground invasion in the south is likely to incur escalating costs in Palestinian lives and destruction that the United States, Israel’s most important ally, may be unwilling to bear.

The Biden administration has told Israel that if it launches an offensive in the south, it will have to operate with much greater precision.

“How far either side will be willing to go in trading hostages and prisoners before the break remains to be seen, but the pressure and incentives for both to stick with it are currently stronger than the incentives to go to war again feed.” Martin Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel, wrote about X.

Diplomacy is increasing

The ceasefire is expected to end sometime after Wednesday’s exchange.

Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt’s state information services, said negotiations had made progress and it was “very likely” an extension would be announced on Wednesday. Egypt, Qatar and the US led mediation on the original ceasefire and a two-day extension announced on Monday.

The war began with Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, which killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The militants kidnapped about 240 people back to Gaza, including babies, children, women, soldiers, older adults and Thai farm workers.

Israel’s bombing campaign and ground invasion of Gaza have killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, roughly two-thirds of whom were women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.

The toll is likely much higher as officials have only updated the count sporadically since Nov. 11 due to the loss of services in the north. The ministry says thousands more people are missing and feared dead under the rubble.

Israel says 77 of its soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive. It claims to have killed thousands of militants, without providing evidence.

ISRAEL’S HOSTAGE DILEMMA

The plight of the prisoners and the shock of the October 7 attack have increased Israeli support for the war. But Netanyahu is also under pressure to bring the hostages home and could find it difficult to resume the offensive if there are prospects of more releases.

Before the release of the hostages on Wednesday, Israel said about 160 hostages were still being held in Gaza: 126 men and 35 women; four under 18 years of age and 10 over 75 years of age. Each side has so far released women and children in the exchange.

An Israeli official involved in the hostage negotiations said efforts were aimed at a two-day extension of the ceasefire for the release of all remaining women and children held by Hamas.

Until that happens, further extensions of the release of male civilians and soldiers will not be considered, he said. He estimated that there are “several dozen” soldiers in Hamas captivity, most of whom are men. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations were ongoing.

Hamas men – and especially soldiers – are expected to push for similar releases of Palestinian men or prominent prisoners, a deal that Israel may oppose.

A total of 63 Israelis, including dual nationals, were released during the six-day ceasefire. Most of them appear physically fine, but are shaken. Another twenty hostages – nineteen Thais and one Filipino – have also been released. Before the ceasefire, Hamas released four hostages, and the Israeli army rescued one. Two others were found dead in Gaza.

So far, most of the 180 Palestinians freed from Israeli prisons are teenagers accused of throwing rocks and firebombs during clashes with Israeli forces. Several were women convicted by Israeli military courts of attempting to attack soldiers.

Palestinians have celebrated the release of people they say resisted Israel’s decades-long military occupation of areas they want for a future state.

TENSE CALM IN GAZA

For the Palestinians in Gaza, the calm of the truce has been overwhelmed by the search for help and by horror at the scale of the destruction.

In the north, residents described entire residential blocks in Gaza City and surrounding areas razed to the ground. The smell of decomposing bodies trapped beneath collapsed buildings fills the air, said Mohmmed Mattar, a 29-year-old Gaza City resident who is working with other volunteers to search for the dead among the rubble or left on the streets.

They have found and buried 46 so far during the ceasefire, he said. Most were unidentified. More bodies still lie in the rubble, but cannot be reached without heavy equipment, or are left in streets unapproachable because of Israeli forces nearby, Mattar said.

In the south, the ceasefire has allowed more aid to be delivered from Egypt, up to 200 trucks a day. But aid officials say this is not enough as most now rely on outside help. The overwhelmed UN-run shelters are home to more than 1 million displaced people, many sleeping outside in cold, rainy weather.

At a distribution center in Rafah, large crowds queue every day for newly arrived bags of flour. But supplies are quickly running out before many can get their share.

“We have been looking for bread for our children,” said a woman in line, Nawal Abu Namous. “Every day we come here… we spend money on transportation to get here, just to go home with nothing.”

Some markets and shops have reopened, but prices for the few items in stock have skyrocketed. Winter clothing is not available. A clothing store owner in Deir al-Balah told The Associated Press that he hates opening his doors in the morning because he knows he will have to spend most of the day apologizing to customers because he has no winter items.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said about 111,000 people have respiratory infections and 75,000 have diarrhea, more than half of whom are under 5 years of age. “More people could die from disease than from bombings.”

“We are fed up,” said Omar al-Darawi, who works at the overwhelmed Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza. “We want this war to end.”

(Jeffery reported from Cairo and Lidman from Jerusalem.)