11-Year-old Gaza boy arrives in Italy for treatment after losing entire family in Israeli strike – DOP
Adam landed with his mother, Dr. Alaa al-Najjar, at Milan's Linate Airport on Wednesday. He was greeted by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who presented the boy with a football before he was transferred to Niguarda Hospital for care.
Adam is the only surviving child of ten siblings after an Israeli strike destroyed their home in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on May 23. His brothers and sisters, who ranged in age from seven months to 12 years, were all killed in the attack. His father, Dr. Hamdi al-Najjar, succumbed to his injuries days later.
Dr. Alaa al-Najjar, a pediatrician, had been working at Nasser Hospital at the time of the airstrike, one of the last functioning medical facilities in southern Gaza.
According to AFP, Adam sustained serious burns and multiple injuries. His mother told La Repubblica that he is in stable condition but will require extended treatment. 'He has a head wound that is healing, but his left arm is bad; the bones are fractured, and the nerves damaged,' the 36-year-old said.
Choosing to focus on her son's recovery, Alaa said she tries not to dwell on the immense loss she has suffered.
'I remember everything. Every detail, every minute, every scream,' she said. 'But when I remember, it's too painful, so I try to keep my mind focused entirely on Adam.'
Adam's evacuation was made possible after his uncle's appeal to the media prompted a response from the Italian government. Foreign Minister Tajani announced that Italy would take action, leading to Adam's transfer out of Gaza.
Alongside Adam, 16 other injured Palestinian children and over 50 relatives arrived in Italy on military aircraft from Israel's Eilat airport, according to the Italian foreign ministry. The children will receive treatment in hospitals across Italy, including in Rome, Florence, and Bologna.
To date, Italy has taken in 150 wounded Palestinians for medical care, the ministry said.
While Italy has consistently expressed political support for Israel since the beginning of its military operation in Gaza in October 2023, Italian officials have more recently voiced criticism over the scale of Israel's response and rising civilian casualties.
According to UNICEF, the United Nations children's agency, more than 50,000 children have been killed or injured in Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Days of Palestine
4 hours ago
- Days of Palestine
Italian Doctors Expose Israeli Claims Over Death of Gazan Woman
DayofPal— Italian medical professionals have raised serious doubts about Israel's explanation for the death of 20-year-old Palestinian woman Marah Abu Zuhri, who was evacuated from Gaza for treatment but died less than 24 hours after arriving at Santa Chiara Hospital in Pisa. Israeli authorities initially claimed that Marah died from severe leukemia and dismissed suggestions that her condition was worsened by malnutrition. However, Italian doctors say their examinations did not confirm a leukemia diagnosis. According to La Nazione, Professor Sara Galimberti, director of Hematology at Santa Chiara Hospital, said Marah arrived in an extremely weakened state and had likely been bedridden for an extended period. 'We started therapy for leukemia that night,' Galimberti said. 'When test results arrived, we stopped treatment because leukemia was not confirmed.' She added that doctors administered high-calorie nutrition and blood transfusions, but Marah suffered acute respiratory failure followed by cardiac arrest. Although no autopsy was performed in accordance with the family's religious wishes, the hospital said this decision does not alter the clinical facts. Her body currently remains at the Legal Medicine department, where authorities may still order a forensic autopsy. Italian specialists now believe long-term malnutrition likely contributed to Marah's death. Her case has drawn renewed attention to the deteriorating healthcare situation in Gaza. In March, the Israeli military bombed the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, the only cancer treatment facility in Gaza, as well as a nearby medical school. Video footage shows the destruction caused by the explosions. Due to Israel's ongoing siege, medical supplies remain blocked from entering Gaza. Hospitals and clinics face dire shortages, and healthcare workers operate under constant threats. Medical professionals warn that Gaza's entire health system is on the brink of collapse if the attacks and blockade persist. Shortlink for this post:
Days of Palestine
20 hours ago
- Days of Palestine
Israeli Attacks Target Civilian Areas in Gaza, Killing 12
DaysofPal – At least 12 Palestinians were killed and several others wounded in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip since dawn on Monday, as the war entered its 682nd day. The strikes targeted civilian areas, aid workers, and fishermen, underscoring Israel's ongoing campaign of genocide against the population of Gaza. An ambulance source confirmed that three Palestinians, including a child, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a building sheltering displaced families in the al-Daraj neighborhood in eastern Gaza. In the al-Tuffah neighborhood, northeast of Gaza City, another civilian lost his life in a separate attack. The sea was not spared either. Fisherman Ismail Kamal Salah was shot dead by Israeli naval fire while working off the coast of Gaza City, while his brother Shadi was injured in the same attack. Three aid workers were killed by Israeli forces in the southern Gaza Strip in the meantime. The victims were identified as Muhammad Ali Musa Hussein, Muhammad Khaled Suleiman Abu Musa, and Ahmed Samir Hamed Abu Jazar. Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza reported receiving 10 wounded this morning after Israeli forces targeted civilian gatherings near an aid distribution point on Salah al-Din Street, south of the Wadi Gaza area. Sunday was one of the deadliest days in weeks. Hospital sources said that 57 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire across the Gaza Strip, including 38 people gunned down while seeking food aid at distribution centers supervised by Israel. At the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, seven people were killed in Israeli shelling that struck the hospital courtyard early Sunday morning. Medical staff described scenes of horror as patients and displaced families were caught in the attack. The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that seven Palestinians, including two children, died in the past 24 hours from malnutrition, bringing the total number of starvation-related deaths since the beginning of the war to 258, among them 110 children. The Government Media Office accused Israel of implementing a deliberate policy of 'engineering starvation and slow killing' against Gaza's 2.4 million people, more than half of whom are children. Israeli bombardment grew more intense in the southern Strip and neighborhoods in eastern Gaza at the same time. Heavy shelling and airstrikes continued in the Zeitoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City, where Israeli forces have been carrying out a prolonged operation for more than a week. Shortlink for this post:
Days of Palestine
20 hours ago
- Days of Palestine
MSF: Gaza Injuries Have Tripled Daily Since Launch of GHF
DaysofPal- Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has revealed that the number of Palestinian injuries in the Gaza Strip has tripled on a daily basis since the launch of aid distribution centers run by the so-called 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,' GHF, which is backed by the Israeli occupation and the United States. Mohammed Abu Mughaisib, MSF's deputy medical coordinator in Gaza, said in a talk on Instagram that 'the health system in Gaza was already fragile before the war, and what remains now is merely a skeleton barely functioning.' Abu Mughaisib pointed out that the Israeli-backed food distribution points have turned into 'zones of killing.' He explained that these sites have caused the daily influx of wounded to triple compared with before their establishment, noting that many of the injured die before reaching Gaza's hospitals. 'We are seeing amputated limbs, severe infections, shattered bones, and torn arteries that require urgent surgery and intensive care,' Abu Mughaisib said, stressing that Gaza's remaining hospitals have seen their surgical and intensive care capacities collapse under the ongoing war. He emphasized the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire and sustained medical and humanitarian access to save what can still be saved, warning that without this, 'nothing will remain to be saved, not the hospitals, not the patients, not the future.' Since May 27, Israeli occupation forces have implemented a plan to distribute aid through the 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,' an initiative rejected by the United Nations and several international relief organizations. According to official data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 1,924 civilians waiting for aid have been killed and more than 14,288 others injured by Israeli gunfire and assaults since the plan began. Shortlink for this post:
