GAZA CITY — A Palestinian pediatrician received the charred bodies of seven of her children while on duty, after an Israeli strike hit her home in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, sparking widespread outrage.
On Friday, Dr. Alaa al-Najjar, a paediatric specialist at al-Tahrir hospital within the Nasser Medical Complex, was treating victims of ongoing Israeli attacks across the strip when she was shocked to find her own children and husband brought into the hospital.
The children—ranging in age from six months to 13 years—suffered severe burns in the bombing.
Civil defense teams recovered seven charred bodies from the rubble and transported them to the hospital where their mother works. Two more children, including the infant, are still believed to be trapped under the debris.
The names of the children were Yahya, Rakan, Ruslan, Jubran, Eve, Revan, Sayden, Luqman, and Sidra.
Shortly before the strike, Najjar had left for work with her husband, Dr Hamdi al-Najjar, who then returned home.
Not long after, an Israeli bombardment struck their house in the Qizan al-Najjar area in southern Khan Younis, killing nine of their 10 children and wounding the 10th. Adam is currently in the moderate ICU department.
Najjar’s husband, who sustained serious injuries, remains in intensive care.
‘New Phase of Genocide’
Following the attack, the Israeli military claimed it had struck suspected fighters operating from a structure next to its forces in an area where civilians had been evacuated.
“The claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review,” the military added.
The UN’s special rapporteur for the Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, slammed the attack on the al-Najjar home as part of a “sadistic pattern” of a “new phase of genocide” facing Palestinians in the besieged enclave.
Dr. Munir al-Bursh, director general of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, said in a post on X, “This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain. In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targeted—Israel’s aggression goes further, wiping out entire families.”
Youssef Abu al-Reesh, a senior official at the Health Ministry, said Dr. Najjar had left her children at home to “fulfill her duty and her calling toward all those sick children who have no place but Nasser Hospital.”
Reesh said that when he arrived at the hospital, he had seen her “standing tall, calm, patient, composed, with eyes full of acceptance. You could hear nothing from her but quiet murmurs of (glorification of God) and (seeking forgiveness).”
Norwegian Doctor Mads Gilbert accused Israel of committing crimes against humanity in Gaza and called for urgent international intervention. “This is what is going on in Gaza now. The merciless killing of whole families, the eradication of the health care workers, the starvation, and the thirsting of 2.1 million people.”
Dr. Alaa and Dr. Hamdi Al-Najjar’s home was targeted, 9 of their 10 children brutally killed, the surviving husband, and one child seriously wounded. Dr. Alaa received her killed children while at work in Nasser Hospital.
— Dr. Mads Gilbert (@DrMadsGilbert) May 23, 2025
Dr. Alaa is a paediatrician.
She’s keeps working.
The… pic.twitter.com/ncUUI3aR6C
American journalist Abby Martin described the attack as “unimaginable daily horrors in Israel’s war of annihilation.”
Since the start of the assault in October 2023, 7, Israeli forces have been blocking the entry of essential medical supplies and medicines to the Strip, bombing hospitals and other medical facilities, killing and kidnapping healthcare staff, and targeting ambulances.
According to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), at least 1,400 healthcare professionals and 111 civil defence workers have been killed in Israeli attacks.
Physicians for Human Rights, Israel (PHRI) said more than 250 Palestinian healthcare workers – doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other essential medical staff – were detained by Israel throughout the war, more than 150 remain in custody.
Health workers in Gaza are working under immense stress and hardship, having to carry out amputations, c-sections and other procedures without anaesthesia, electricity, and most basic medical supplies. UN experts have framed the war on the Gaza health system as one that has resulted in the complete obliteration of healthcare infrastructure.
C. QNN
