Gaza: Israeli airstrike kills 9 children of Palestinian doctor

In a heartbreaking incident that has stirred global outrage, an Israeli airstrike has claimed the lives of nine children belonging to a Palestinian paediatrician, Dr. Alaa al-Najjar, while she was on duty caring for other children at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

The devastating attack, which occurred on Friday, struck the family’s home and set it ablaze, killing nearly all of Dr. al-Najjar’s children, according to Dr. Ahmad al-Farra, head of the hospital’s paediatrics department.

Only one child, 11-year-old Adam, survived the attack but remains in critical condition. Dr. al-Najjar’s husband also sustained severe injuries in the strike, Gaza’s Government Media Office reported.

The dead children, two of whom remain under the rubble, range in age from seven months to 12 years old, the media office added.

The attack “encapsulates the ongoing genocide faced by the Palestinian people in Gaza,” said the office. “It is a full-fledged war crime under all international laws and conventions.”

The UN’s special rapporteur for the Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, slammed the attack as part of a “sadistic pattern” of a “new phase of genocide” facing Palestinians in the besieged enclave.

Hamas said it followed a routine of Israel “deliberately targeting … medical personnel, civilians and their families in an attempt to break their will”.

The Israeli military said it had struck suspected fighters operating from a structure next to its forces in an area where civilians had been evacuated. “The claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review,” the military added.

On Monday, Israel issued forced evacuation orders for Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city, warning of an “unprecedented attack”. There has been heavy, deadly bombardment in the area daily

The al-Najjar children were among dozens killed in Israel’s attacks on Friday and Saturday.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the bodies of 79 people killed in Israeli attacks were brought to hospitals between Friday and midday Saturday. That count does not include facilities in the north of the enclave that are inaccessible, it said.

The ministry puts the overall death toll in Gaza since October 2023 at 53,901, with 122,593 injured.