Israeli Air Strike in Gaza Kills Nine of Ten Children from Doctor’s Family
- Victor Nwoko
- 20 minutes ago
- 3 min read
An Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, has killed nine of the ten children belonging to a local doctor, according to medical staff at Nasser Hospital, where the physician works. The strike targeted the family home of Dr. Alaa al-Najjar, leaving her husband and one surviving child injured.
The devastating attack occurred shortly after Dr. al-Najjar’s husband, Hamdi, had returned home from dropping her off at work. A video shared by the director of Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, verified independently, showed small, burned bodies being pulled from the rubble.
British surgeon Graeme Groom, who is volunteering at Nasser Hospital, said he operated on the couple’s surviving 11-year-old son. He confirmed that Hamdi al-Najjar, also a doctor at the hospital, was critically injured. Groom noted that the father had no known political or military ties and was not publicly active on social media.
According to hospital officials, the eldest of the children was just 12 years old. The initial report from the hospital stated that eight children had died, but this was later revised to nine.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defence agency, confirmed that rescue teams recovered eight bodies and several injured individuals from the al-Najjar residence near a petrol station in Khan Younis. The house was hit during a series of strikes carried out by the Israeli military, which claimed to have struck over 100 targets across Gaza in the past 24 hours.
The Gaza health ministry reported that at least 74 people were killed in the Israeli offensive during the 24-hour period leading up to midday Saturday. The overall death toll in Gaza since October 2023 has surpassed 53,901, including over 16,500 children, according to the health ministry.
Dr. Youssef Abu al-Rish, another physician at Nasser Hospital, recounted arriving in the operating room to find Dr. al-Najjar waiting in anguish for news about her son.
A relative of the family, Youssef al-Najjar, expressed deep sorrow and desperation: “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!”
The tragedy comes amid dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza. UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently described the situation as possibly “the cruellest phase” of the war, criticizing Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid, partially lifted earlier this week. On Friday, 83 aid trucks entered Gaza, but the UN insists that 500 to 600 trucks are needed daily to meet basic needs.
The limited food supply has led to widespread chaos, with reports of looting and desperate crowds outside bakeries. A UN-backed assessment warned that Gaza's population faces a "critical risk" of famine. Mothers are reportedly unable to breastfeed due to malnutrition, and chronic water shortages persist as fuel-starved desalination plants shut down.
Israel maintains that the blockade is intended to pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining hostages taken during the group’s cross-border assault on 7 October 2023, which resulted in 1,200 Israeli deaths and 251 kidnappings. Israel has also accused Hamas of diverting humanitarian aid—an allegation Hamas denies.
The military has not yet issued a specific response regarding the airstrike on Dr. al-Najjar’s home.
