Outrage, horror after Israeli attack kills 9 children of Gaza doctor
An Israeli attack has killed nearly the entire family of a Khan Younis doctor while she was at work, Gaza health officials said.
The attack hit the home of Alaa al-Najjar, a paediatrician at the southern city’s Nasser Hospital, on Friday, setting it ablaze and killing nine of her 10 children.
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.
Rescue workers collect human remains after an Israeli attack on a home in Khan Younis killed nine of a doctor’s 10 children while she was at work
The dead children, two of whom remain under the rubble, range in age from seven months to 12 years old, said Gaza’s Government Media Office.
- Yahya Hamdi al-Najjar, 12
- Rakan Hamdi al-Najjar, 10
- Eve Hamdi al-Najjar, 9
- Jubran Hamdi al-Najjar, 8
- Ruslan Hamdi al-Najjar, 7
- Reval Hamdi al-Najjar, 5
- Sadin Hamdi al-Najjar, 3
- Luqman Hamdi al-Najjar, 2
- Sidar Hamdi al-Najjar, under 1 year old
Al-Najjar’s husband was critically injured in the attack. He has severe chest and head wounds, including a skull fracture, and is now receiving treatment in Nasser Hospital’s intensive care unit, al-Farra told Al Jazeera.
The couple’s only surviving child, 11-year-old Adam, is also severely injured. He is currently “in the moderate ICU department with his mother”, said al-Farra.
Two doctors go to work to assist others.Nine of their kids are killed by an Israeli missile targeting their home. Only surviving child, in critical conditions.
Targeting families in the still-standing buildings: distinguishable sadistic pattern of the new phase of the genocide. https://t.co/6tlylARKK5
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) May 24, 2025
Four-year-old boy dies of starvation in Gaza City: Civil defence
A spokesperson for the civil defence agency in Gaza City told Al Jazeera the boy, named Mohammed Yassin, died from starvation as a result of Israel’s blockade on food, water and other aid to Gaza.
“This is not the first child to die in Gaza as a result of starvation,” Mahmoud Basal said. “If food and drink are not allowed to reach the people of the Gaza Strip, we will witness many more deaths of these children. We will witness more deaths.”
Basal called on the international community to “act to end this suffering”.
