By GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – A tragic airstrike in Gaza claimed the lives of newborn twins and their family on the very day their father was registering their births at a local government office.
The father, Mohammed Abu-Qumsan, had gone to collect the birth certificates for his twins, Asser, a boy, and Ayesa, a girl, who were just four days old when the devastating news reached him that his home in Deir al-Balah had been bombed.
The Israeli airstrike not only killed the twins but also claimed the lives of their mother and grandmother. “I don’t know what happened,” Abu-Qumsan said in shock. “I am told it was a shell that hit the house. I didn’t even have the time to celebrate them,” he added, reflecting on the brief and tragic lives of his children.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, 115 infants have been born and subsequently killed during the conflict, illustrating the devastating impact of the ongoing violence on the most vulnerable civilians.
Reports from the Associated Press indicate that the family had evacuated to Gaza City in the early weeks of the Israel-Gaza war, seeking shelter in a central part of the strip as instructed by the Israeli army. Despite following these orders, their lives were abruptly ended by the strike.
The BBC has reached out to the Israeli army for comment on the airstrike but is still awaiting a response.
Israel maintains that it strives to avoid harming civilians and places the blame for civilian deaths on Hamas, accusing the group of using residential areas and civilian buildings as cover. However, Israeli officials rarely comment on specific strikes.
The incident adds to the mounting number of civilian casualties in Gaza, where shelters, hospitals, and even schools have been attacked in recent weeks. On Saturday, an Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza City, which was sheltering displaced Palestinians, killed over 70 people, according to the director of a local hospital.
The Israeli military later claimed the school was being used as an active Hamas command and military facility, a charge Hamas denied. Due to restricted access, the BBC could not independently verify the claims from either side.
As the conflict intensifies, the human cost continues to rise. Approximately 1,200 people were killed in an attack on Israel on October 7, with hostilities escalating in response, leaving Gaza’s civilian population caught in the crossfire.
bbc.com
