Israeli strike in Khan Younis kills nine children of doctor couple
A Palestinian man carries items he salvaged from a house targeted in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat camp for refugees in the central Gaza Strip on May 24. Photo: AFP
Gaza’s civil defense agency reported Saturday that an Israeli airstrike in the southern city of Khan Younis killed nine children belonging to a pair of married doctors.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal stated that civil defense "crews transported 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 were their children," he said, adding that the father and another son were also seriously injured in the Friday strike.
Dr. Alaa al-Najjar, a pediatric specialist at Al-Tahrir Hospital within the Nasser Medical Complex, had been treating victims of ongoing Israeli attacks when she received the bodies of her nine children, all killed in the airstrike. The eldest was 12 years old.
Nasser Hospital confirmed that one of her children and her husband were injured but survived. British surgeon Graeme Groom, working at the hospital, told the BBC he had operated on the surviving 11-year-old boy.
The hospital, located in Khan Younis, verified that the strike occurred just after the father had returned home from accompanying Dr. Alaa to work.
The children's funeral took place at Nasser Hospital, AFP footage showed.
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.
"Enough! Have mercy on us!" pleaded Youssef al-Najjar, a relative, speaking to AFP. "We appeal to all countries, the international community, the people, Hamas, and all factions—have mercy on us. We are exhausted from displacement and hunger. Enough!"
Earlier Saturday, Gaza’s civil defense agency said that at least 15 people had been killed across the territory by Israeli strikes as the military offensive intensifies.
According to spokesman Mahmud Bassal, a couple and their two young children were killed in a pre-dawn airstrike on their home in the Amal neighborhood of Khan Younis. Elsewhere in the city, at least five people were killed in a drone strike targeting a crowd waiting for aid trucks.
Alaa al-Najjar visits her injured husband in the intensive care unit. Photo Courtesy: Anadolu
At Nasser Hospital, tearful mourners gathered around white-shrouded bodies laid outside. "Suddenly, a missile from an F-16 destroyed the entire house. They were all civilians—my sister, her husband, and their children," said Wissam Al-Madhoun.
"We found them lying in the street. What did this child do to (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu?"
The Israeli military said it could not comment on individual strikes without precise geographical coordinates. In a broader statement, the military said that over the past 24 hours, the air force had targeted more than 100 locations across Gaza, including operatives from "terrorist organizations," military structures, underground tunnels, and other infrastructure.
Israel resumed its military operations in Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire. Gaza’s health ministry reported Saturday that at least 3,747 people have been killed in the territory since the resumption, bringing the total death toll in Gaza to 53,901, the majority of whom were civilians.
‘Cruellest Phase’ of the War
The conflict began with a Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023, which killed 1,218 people—mostly civilians—according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. attackers also took 251 hostages; 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military believes are dead.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Friday that Palestinians in Gaza were enduring "the cruellest phase" of the war. A prolonged Israeli blockade has led to severe shortages of food and medicine.
Limited aid deliveries resumed on Monday for the first time since March 2, amid growing international condemnation of the blockade. The World Food Programme said 15 of its trucks were looted late Thursday night and urged Israel to allow "far greater volumes of food assistance into Gaza, faster."
"Hunger, desperation, and anxiety over whether more food aid is coming is contributing to rising insecurity," the agency said.
Meanwhile, the Gaza City municipality warned Saturday of a looming large-scale water crisis due to a shortage of supplies needed for urgent repairs. It said damage from the war had "affected the majority of Gaza’s water infrastructure," leaving large parts of the population vulnerable to severe shortages. With rising temperatures, demand for water is expected to increase significantly.