Gaza: Nine children of doctor couple killed in Israeli strike
Ahmad said that the couple's only surviving child, an 11-year-old son, was in critical condition after the strike. The dead children ranged in age from seven months to 12 years old.
Gaza's civil defense agency said an Israeli strike in the southern city of Khan Younis on Friday killed nine of the 10 children of a married doctor couple.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said Saturday 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 of whom were their children."
More To Read
- UK stops trade talks with Israel as international criticism grows over Gaza offensive
- Trump administration reportedly weighs plan to relocate one million Gazans to Libya
- Columbia University suspends more than 65 students over library occupation
- Gaza’s lifeline under fire as over 1,400 health workers killed in targeted attacks
- Dozens of students arrested in pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University
- UN and Palestinians accuse Israel of blocking Gaza aid at World Court hearings
In a statement, Israel's military said it struck suspects operating from a structure near to its forces and described the area of Khan Younis as a "dangerous war zone."
The military said it had evacuated civilians from the area and that "the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review."
What do we know about the incident?
Alaa al-Najjar, a paediatrician at Nasser Hospital, was on duty when she ran home and found her family's house on fire, Ahmad al-Farra, head of the hospital's paediatrics department, told the Associated Press.
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."
Ahmad said that the couple's only surviving child, an 11-year-old son, was in critical condition after the strike. The dead children ranged in age from seven months to 12 years old.
Germany's antisemitism chief urges debate on Israel support
The latest strike in Gaza comes as European countries such as the UK and France grow increasingly critical of Israel's military operations there.
Felix Klein, the German government's antisemitism commissioner, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that, while protecting Israel and defending its right to exist are fundamental to German policy, support can only go so far.
"We must do everything in our power to preserve the security of Israel and Jews worldwide," he said. "But we must also make it clear that this does not justify everything."
Protecting Israel's security and supporting its interests in international organisations is one of Germany's "Staatsräson" ('Reason of state'). The policy is tied to Germany's historical responsibility to Israel after the Holocaust during World War II, in which 6 million Jews were killed.
Gaza's health authorities say nearly 54,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip amid Israeli attacks. Although Israel and the US have criticised this death toll figure, the UN and other international bodies have viewed the Gaza Health Ministry figures as broadly reliable.
"The humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic. A country that occupies a territory must ensure that the population is adequately fed, that relief supplies get through and that medical care can take place," Klein said.
He emphasised that Israel is entitled to defend itself against Hamas, whom he accused of "genocidal hatred," but he questioned the "proportionality" of Israel's military action.
Top Stories Today
Reader Comments
Trending
