KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — A devastating Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza killed nine of the ten children of pediatrician Dr. Alaa al-Najjar, Nasser Hospital confirmed Saturday, as Israel intensified its military campaign across the enclave.
The hospital in Khan Younis, where Dr. al-Najjar works, said her husband and one child survived but sustained serious injuries. A British surgeon at the facility, Dr. Graeme Groom, who operated on the 11-year-old survivor, described the event as “unbearably cruel,” noting the tragic irony that a woman devoted to saving children had lost nearly all of her own in a single strike.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged the strike in Khan Younis, saying its aircraft had targeted “a number of suspects” operating near IDF troops and stated that reports of harm to civilians were “under review.”
Footage shared by Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry and verified by the BBC showed charred bodies of children being pulled from rubble. Health officials said the strike hit the al-Najjar family home, located near a petrol station.
Dr. Muneer Alboursh, director of the health ministry, said the house was struck minutes after Dr. al-Najjar’s husband had returned from driving her to work. The couple’s oldest child was only 12 years old.
Dr. Groom said the father, also a physician at Nasser Hospital, was “very badly injured” with a penetrating head wound, and that he had no known political or military affiliation. The surviving child, Adam, was described as “quite small” for his age and suffered fragment injuries, a nearly severed arm, and deep lacerations.
“Our little boy could survive, but we don’t know about his father,” Groom told the BBC.
Initially, the hospital reported eight children had been killed, later updating the toll to nine. Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defence agency, said eight bodies and several wounded were recovered from the wreckage.
Dr. Youssef Abu al-Rish recounted arriving in the operating room to find Dr. al-Najjar anxiously awaiting news of her son. Another relative, Youssef al-Najjar, pleaded in an AFP interview,
“Enough! Have mercy on us! We plead to all countries, the international community, Hamas, and all factions — we are exhausted from displacement and hunger.”
The tragedy comes amid what UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned may be “the cruellest phase” of the war, with escalating strikes, mass displacement, and a deepening humanitarian crisis.
The Gaza health ministry reported at least 74 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the 24 hours leading up to midday Saturday. The IDF said over 100 targets were struck across Gaza in the same period.
Israel’s partial lifting of the aid blockade this week allowed just 83 trucks of flour, medicine, and food into Gaza on Friday, according to Israeli officials. However, the UN says 500 to 600 trucks daily are needed to meet basic needs for Gaza’s 2.1 million residents.
Desperation has led to chaotic scenes, with looters attacking aid convoys and civilians crowding outside bakeries. A UN-backed famine risk assessment warned the population is at “critical risk” of starvation, with malnourished mothers unable to breastfeed and water supplies collapsing as fuel for desalination runs dry.
Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages. Since then, at least 53,901 people, including more than 16,500 children, have been killed in Gaza, the health ministry reports.
Israel says the blockade and continued operations are necessary to pressure Hamas to release hostages and prevent the militant group from stealing aid — a claim Hamas denies.
