2LT International News

GAZA  – The home of a doctor working in the emergency room at the Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza was struck by Israel Air Force pilots on Saturday, killing nine of her 10 children.

The bodies of seven of her children, aged from 3 to twelve, arrived at the hospital where she was working.

The bodies of another 2 children are still buried in the rubble left after the airstrike.

Dr. Alaa al-Najjar  had been at work for only a few hours when the bodies of her children began arriving at the hospital.

The two of her remaining children also killed, still trapped in the rubble, were aged 7 months, and two years.

Her sole surviing child of the ten was crically injured in the bombing. Dr. Najjar’s husband, also a doctor, was severely injured in the strike.

Civil defense and the health ministry said the family’s home, in a neighborhood of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, was targeted by an Israeli airstrike.

The Israel Defense Forces issued a statement saying they had targeted 100 sites across Gaza.

When asked by CNN about the attack on the doctor’s home, they said aircraft had “struck a number of suspects who were identified operating from a structure adjacent to IDF troops in the area of Khan Yunis.” 

In a statement later in the day the IDF said: “The claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review.” 

Gaza Civil Defense published graphic video from the scene of the strike, showing medics lifting an injured man onto a stretcher as other first responders try to extinguish a fire engulfing the house. They recover the charred remains of several children from the debris and wrap them in white sheets, CNN reported Saturday.

Munir al-Barsh, Director-General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, told the network that Dr. Najjar’s husband had just returned home when their house was struck.

“Nine of their children were killed: Yahya, Rakan, Raslan, Gebran, Eve, Rival, Sayden, Luqman, and Sidra,” Barsh posted on X. He said her Dr. Najjar’s was in intensive care.

“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,” Barsh said.

Ahmad al-Farra, a doctor at the Nasser Medical Complex, told CNN that Dr. Najjar continued to work despite losing her children, while periodically checking on the condition of her husband and sole surviving child, Adam, who is 11.

Both the father and son underwent two surgeries at the hospital and are still receiving treatment, Farra said.

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).”

Dr. Najjar, 38, is a pediatrician, but like most doctors in Gaza, she has been working in the emergency room during Israel’s onslaught on the territory.

CNN contributed to this article.