Rescuers say 9 children of Gaza doctor couple killed
Rescuers say 9 children of Gaza doctor couple killed
The Israeli military says the strike that killed the children is being reviewed. Photo: AFP
Gaza's civil defence agency said on Saturday that an Israeli strike in the southern city of Khan Younis killed nine children from the same family, with the Israeli army saying it was reviewing the reports.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said civil defence crews retrieved "the bodies of nine child martyrs, some of them charred, from the home of Dr Hamdi al-Najjar and his wife, Dr Alaa al-Najjar, all of whom were their children."
He added that Hamdi al-Najjar and another son, Adam, were also seriously wounded in the strike on Friday.
A medical source at Nasser Hospital, where Alaa al-Najjar works, gave Adam's age as 10 years old.
Footage of the aftermath released by the civil defence agency showed rescuers recovering badly burned remains from the damaged home.
Asked about the incident, the Israeli military said it had "struck a number of suspects who were identified operating from a structure" near its troops.
"The Khan Younis area is a dangerous warzone," it added.
"The claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review."
The army had issued an evacuation warning for Khan Younis on Monday.
The children's funeral took place at Nasser Hospital.
Muneer Alboursh, director general of the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, said on X that the strike happened shortly after Hamdi Al-Najjar drove his wife to work.
"Just minutes after returning home, a missile struck their house," he said, adding the father was "in intensive care."
"This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain," he said.
"In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targeted – Israel's aggression goes further, wiping out entire families." (AFP)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Hungry Palestinians in Gaza block and offload dozens of UN food trucks as desperation grows
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have blocked and offloaded dozens of food trucks, the UN World Food Programme has said, as desperation mounts following Israel's months-long blockade while talks of a ceasefire inch forward. Advertisement The WFP on Saturday said 77 trucks carrying aid, mostly flour, were stopped by hungry people who took the food before the trucks could reach their destination. The nearly three-month Israeli blockade on Gaza has pushed the population of more than 2 million to the brink of famine. While pressure slightly eased in recent days as Israel allowed some aid to enter, aid organisations say far from enough food is getting in. Hamas on Friday said it was reviewing a US proposal for a temporary ceasefire, which Israeli officials had approved. US President Donald Trump said negotiators were nearing a deal. A ceasefire would pause the fighting for 60 days, release some of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and much-needed food aid and other assistance, according to Hamas and Egyptian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media. Internally displaced Palestinians gather outside a charity kitchen to receive limited rations amid a shortage of food, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Friday. Photo: EPA-EFE According to the WFP, the fear of starvation in Gaza is high despite the aid that is entering now. 'We need to flood communities with food for the next few days to calm anxieties and rebuild the trust with communities that more food is coming,' it said in a statement, adding that it had more than 140,000 metric tons of food – enough to feed Gazans for two months – ready to be brought in.
RTHK
5 days ago
- RTHK
France to ban smoking outdoors in most places
France to ban smoking outdoors in most places The new ban, which will enter into force on July 1, will cover all spaces where children could be present. File photo: AFP France will ban smoking in all outdoor places that can be accessed by children, including beaches, parks and bus stops, the health and family minister announced on Thursday. Famed as a country where smokers linger over cigarettes on cafe terraces or strolling down cobblestone streets, France has increasingly tightened restrictions on tobacco use in public spaces in recent years. The new ban, which will enter into force on July 1, will cover all spaces where children could be present, including "beaches, parks, public gardens, outside of schools, bus stops and sports venues", said the minister Catherine Vautrin. "Tobacco must disappear where there are children," Vautrin said in an interview published by the regional Ouest-France daily on its website. The freedom to smoke "stops where children's right to breathe clean air starts," she said. The ban will also extend to schools, to stop students smoking in front of them. Offenders face a fine of up to 135 euros (US$154), Vautrin said. The ban will not extend to France's iconic cafe terraces however, the minister said. Electronic cigarettes, which have boomed in France in recent years, are also not covered. France already forbids smoking in public spaces such as workplaces, airports and train stations, as well as playgrounds. (AFP)
RTHK
5 days ago
- RTHK
Covid to drop to lower level in a month or two: CHP
Covid to drop to lower level in a month or two: CHP Health authorities say various indicators, including the number of Covid patients seeking help, have shown that coronavirus activity has dropped. File photo: AFP Health authorities on Thursday said Covid activity in Hong Kong appears to be declining from its peak, but that it would take "a month or two" before reaching a lower level. The Centre for Health Protection said the percentage of respiratory samples testing positive for the coronavirus and the viral load in sewage samples have gone down in the week ending on May 24, compared to the period between May 11 and 17. The number of patients seeking medical help for Covid also dropped, the centre said in a statement. But the centre's controller, Edwin Tsui, noted that coronavirus activity would remain "relatively high" in the meantime. "Hong Kong has experienced an upsurge in Covid-19 cases since April this year, more than half a year after the last increase in July and August of last year. The current active period is expected," he said. "Although the activity of Covid-19 has started to decline, with reference to previous data, we expect that it will remain at a relatively high level in the short term, and will take a month or two to gradually decline to a lower level." Tsui noted XDV and variants descended from it, including NB.1.8.1, have become the most prevalent strains in the SAR, according to genetic analysis. NB1.8.1 has been assigned as one of the "variants under monitoring" by the World Health Organization, but the body suggested that the risk it posed was low. To that, Tsui said Covid vaccines currently used in Hong Kong "can effectively prevent infection and severe disease", while urging high-risk individuals to "not take this lightly" and get inoculated with a booster shot.
