A devastating Israeli air raid in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis has claimed the lives of nine children belonging to Dr. Alaa al-Najjar, a paediatrician at Nasser Hospital, the facility confirmed. Only one of her children survived the attack, along with her husband, who sustained serious injuries.
The strike, which occurred on Friday, obliterated the family home shortly after her husband, Hamdi, returned from dropping Dr. al-Najjar off at work. The hospital reported that her 11-year-old son was the sole surviving child, though he is currently being treated for injuries.
British surgeon Graeme Groom, who is working at Nasser Hospital, said he operated on the injured boy. Speaking in a video posted by fellow British doctor Victoria Rose on Instagram, Groom described the situation as “unimaginable,” noting that the father was also gravely wounded.
In a video verified by the BBC and shared by Dr. Muneer Alboursh, director of the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry, rescue workers can be seen retrieving small, burned bodies from the rubble of the al-Najjar home. The video was captured near a petrol station in Khan Younis, where the strike occurred.
As of Saturday, the Israeli military has not directly addressed the strike on the al-Najjar residence. However, in a broad statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that over the past 24 hours, it had targeted more than 100 locations throughout Gaza.
According to health officials in the territory, at least 74 people were killed by Israeli forces in the same time frame. The Gaza health ministry initially reported the deaths of eight children in the al-Najjar household, but this was later updated to nine.
Dr. Alboursh stated on social media platform X that the al-Najjar home was attacked minutes after Dr. Hamdi al-Najjar had returned from dropping off his wife. He confirmed the eldest of their children was only 12 years old.
Groom, the British doctor, mentioned that the family appeared to have no involvement in political or militant activity and were not prominent on social media. He expressed deep sorrow for Dr. al-Najjar, saying her circumstances were difficult to comprehend.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Hamas-run Civil Defence in Gaza, also confirmed the casualties. He reported that emergency teams recovered eight bodies and several injured victims from the site of the airstrike.
Dr. Youssef Abu al-Rish, another physician at Nasser Hospital, said he encountered Dr. al-Najjar anxiously awaiting news about her surviving son in the operating theatre and did his best to console her.
Speaking to the AFP news agency, a relative of the family, Youssef al-Najjar, issued an emotional plea: “Enough! Have mercy on us! We plead to all countries, the international community, the people, Hamas, and all factions to have mercy on us. We are exhausted from the displacement and the hunger, enough!”
On the same day, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued a stern warning, stating that the population of Gaza might be enduring “the cruellest phase” of the ongoing war. He also condemned Israel’s blockade of humanitarian supplies, which began in March.
Although Israel recently eased some restrictions, allowing limited humanitarian aid into the territory, UN agencies report that the current volume is vastly insufficient. On Friday, the Israeli military coordination office, COGAT, said 83 trucks carrying flour, food, medical tools, and pharmaceuticals were permitted to enter.
Nevertheless, the UN stresses that between 500 to 600 trucks of supplies are required daily to meet the basic needs of Gaza’s 2.1 million residents. They have called on Israeli authorities to allow significantly more aid into the region.
The scarcity of food led to chaotic incidents this week, including reports of armed individuals seizing control of aid convoys and desperate civilians lining up in droves at bakeries in a bid to obtain bread.
A UN-supported evaluation published this month warned that Gaza’s population is facing a “critical risk” of widespread famine. Residents have told the BBC that they are starving, and that malnourished mothers can no longer breastfeed their infants.
The lack of clean water is also reaching crisis levels, with desalination and sanitation plants either shut down or operating with minimal capacity due to fuel shortages. Israel’s ongoing military activities continue to displace tens of thousands more, exacerbating the humanitarian emergency.
Israeli authorities maintain that the blockade is intended to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. They have also accused Hamas of diverting or stealing aid, a claim the group has strongly denied.
The current military campaign began after Hamas militants launched an unprecedented assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages.
Since then, Gaza’s health ministry says at least 53,901 people have died, including more than 16,500 children, as a result of the Israeli response.
