Israeli air strike kills nine of Gaza doctor's 10 children

Yahoo

25-05-2025

An Israeli air strike on a family home in southern Gaza killed nine siblings on Friday, leaving their 11-year-old brother as the only surviving child.
The children, aged 12 and under, were those of Dr Alaa al-Najjar, who was at work when she received the news, according to Ali al-Najjar, her brother-in-law.
After rushing back to her family home, she witnessed the charred bodies of four of her children being pulled out the rubble.
'They weren't just burned, they were roasted. No face, no hands, no back,' said Mr Najjar, who was also helping at the scene.
The tragedy comes as Israel's relationship with its allies plunges to new lows since it began its war in Gaza.
France, the UK and Canada have in recent weeks issued their strongest condemnation yet for the brutality of Israel's offensive, while Donald Trump's decision to avoid visiting Israel on a trip to the Middle East suggests he is also losing patience with the Israeli leader.
Friday's attack happened in the Khan Younis minutes after Dr Hamdi al-Najjar, their father, returned from driving their mother to work at the city's Nasser Hospital, according to Ali al-Najjar, Hamdi's brother.
Dr Hamdi Najjar, also a doctor at the hospital, was critically wounded with a head injury.
Ahmad al-Farra, the head of the hospital's paediatrics department, said: 'It is unbelievable.
'You can't imagine the shock that [Dr Najjar] had when she heard about that [attack]. But up until now, she is trying to be near her son and her husband to survive.'
Adam, the surviving child, 11, underwent surgery for severe injuries including lacerations and his left arm that was nearly severed, said Graeme Groom, a British surgeon who operated on the boy.
'His left arm was just about hanging off, he was covered in fragment injuries,' Mr Groom said, adding that Adam was 'quite small' for his age.
'Since both his parents are doctors, he seemed to be among the privileged group within Gaza, but as we lifted him onto the operating table, he felt much younger than 11.'
Mr Groom said in an interview with the BBC: 'Our little boy could survive, but we don't know about his father.'
Colleagues of the couple told media outlets that the family had no ties to Hamas.
Mr Groom said he had been told the father had 'no political and no military connections and doesn't seem to be prominent on social media'.
Dr Hamdi Najjar was also seriously wounded and suffered what Mr Groom described as a 'penetrating injury to his head'. Hospital officials said both the father and surviving son were injured but alive.
A spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run civil defence, said that rescue teams had found eight bodies and several injured people after a strike on the al-Najjar family home near a petrol station.
A hospital first reported on Facebook that eight children were killed, then later said the number had risen to nine.
Dr Youssef Abu al-Rish, speaking for the Hamas-run health ministry, said he saw Dr Alaa Najjar in the operating room waiting for news about her surviving son and tried to comfort her.
Youssef al-Najjar, a relative to the family, said in an interview: 'Enough. Have mercy on us. We plead to all countries, the international community, the people, Hamas, and all factions to have mercy.
'We are exhausted from displacement and hunger.'
The Israel Defence Forces said its aircraft had struck 'a number of suspects who were identified operating from a structure adjacent to IDF troops in the area of Khan Younis'.
The military added 'the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review'.
In a statement, the IDF said the Khan Younis area was 'a dangerous war zone' and that it had evacuated civilians from the area before beginning operations for their safety.
Hamas described the air strike as 'a horrific massacre'.
Francesca Albanese, the UN's special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, called the attack part of a 'distinguishable sadistic pattern of the new phase of the genocide'.
Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, warned that Gaza is facing what could be the 'cruellest phase' of the war and criticised Israel's restrictions on aid.
Israel had blocked food, fuel, medicine and other supplies from entering Gaza for nearly three months, worsening the humanitarian crisis for 2.3 million Palestinians.
The country partially lifted the blockade last week, with 83 trucks carrying flour, food, medical equipment and pharmaceutical drugs entering Gaza on Friday.
However, the UN has repeatedly said the amount of aid delivered into Gaza has been insufficient, calling for 500 to 600 trucks daily compared to current levels.
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