KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — A Palestinian physician whose home was bombed in an Israeli airstrike on May 23 has died from critical injuries, just days after losing nine of his ten children in the same attack, health officials in Gaza said Saturday.
Dr. Hamdi al-Najjar, 40, succumbed to severe brain and internal injuries at Nasser Hospital, where both he and his wife, Dr. Alaa al-Najjar, worked as physicians. The couple’s home in Khan Younis was struck shortly after Hamdi returned from dropping Alaa at the hospital. The airstrike killed nine of their children and critically injured their 11-year-old son, Adam — the only surviving child.
With Hamdi’s death, Alaa and Adam are the sole survivors of the once large and close-knit family.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged the strike at the time, stating that it had targeted individuals identified as threats in an area it described as a “dangerous combat zone.” The military said the incident, which took place in southern Gaza, was under review.
The devastating loss has sparked an outpouring of grief and outrage both in Gaza and internationally, underscoring the immense civilian toll of the war. The couple had founded a private medical compound in Khan Younis, with Hamdi serving as its director. His brother, Dr. Ali al-Najjar, described him as a compassionate man who frequently treated patients unable to afford care.
The victims of the airstrike — Yahya, Rakan, Ruslan, Jubran, Eve, Rivan, Saydeen, Luqman, and Sidra — ranged in age from six months to 12 years, according to local media. Adam, the couple’s only surviving child, remains hospitalized with grave injuries.
“Hamdi sustained catastrophic trauma to his brain, lungs, right arm, and kidney,” said Dr. Milena Angelova-Chee, a Bulgarian doctor working at Nasser Hospital, who spoke to the BBC prior to Hamdi’s death.
Dr. Graeme Groom, a British surgeon who treated Adam, described the boy’s condition as harrowing. “His left arm was just about hanging off,” Groom told the BBC. “He was covered in fragmentation injuries and deep lacerations. Though he’s 11, he felt much younger as we lifted him onto the operating table.”
Groom described the situation as “unbearably cruel” — especially for Adam’s mother, a pediatrician who had dedicated her career to caring for children. Now, she stands to lose nearly her entire family.
As Adam fights for his life, an international plea to evacuate him to receive advanced care has gained traction. Italy’s government responded to a direct appeal from Dr. Ali al-Najjar, Adam’s uncle, who told La Repubblica that Gaza’s medical infrastructure is overwhelmed and ill-equipped to provide the care Adam needs.
“He needs to be taken away immediately, to a real hospital, outside of the Gaza Strip. I beg the Italian government to do something, take him, Italians save him,” Ali said in the interview.
In a statement, Italy’s foreign ministry confirmed its willingness to transfer the critically injured boy, adding that officials are examining logistical options to carry out the medical evacuation.
In response to reports of civilian casualties, the IDF reiterated its claim that the strike had targeted combatants operating from a building near Israeli troops in Khan Younis — a combat zone the IDF said had been cleared of civilians for safety. “The claim of harm to uninvolved individuals is being reviewed,” the IDF said.
Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza began after Hamas militants launched a surprise cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and abducting 251, according to Israeli authorities.
Since then, the war has devastated the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-run health ministry, more than 54,400 people have been killed in Israeli strikes — many of them civilians. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble, and basic infrastructure has collapsed under the weight of months of bombardment.
The airstrike that destroyed the al-Najjar family home adds another harrowing chapter to the humanitarian crisis engulfing the territory, as calls intensify for accountability, ceasefire, and emergency medical evacuations.
