As reported by Al Jazeera, a tragic incident occurred in Gaza where a doctor lost nine of her ten children due to an Israeli missile strike on their home. The attack also left her surviving son severely injured and her husband in critical condition.
Dr. Alaa Al Najjar, a pediatrician at Al Tahrir Clinic within the Nasser Medical Complex, was working when the strike hit their residence in the southern region of Khan Younis on Friday. Disturbing footage released by the Palestinian Civil Defence, affiliated with Hamas, shows rescuers retrieving the bodies of at least seven young children from the debris. The footage captures their efforts to extinguish fires and search through the collapsed structure, celebrating when they find a body, and meticulously placing the children in body bags.
In the video, Dr. Al Najjar’s husband, Hamdi Al Najjar, who is also a physician, is shown being placed onto a stretcher and transported to an ambulance. The couple’s oldest child was just 12 years old, as stated by Dr. Muneer Alboursh, the head of Gaza’s health ministry, which is under Hamas administration. He lamented on social media, “This reflects the harsh reality faced by our medical personnel in Gaza. Words cannot fully express the grief.”
Dr. Alboursh further emphasized that it is not only healthcare professionals who are at risk; the aggression from Israel impacts entire families, leading to devastating losses. Dr. Groom remarked on the unimaginable situation faced by Dr. Al Najjar, noting that both she and her husband are doctors. He highlighted that her husband worked at Nasser Hospital without any political or military affiliations and was not well-known on social media, yet she remains the only uninjured member of the family, facing the possibility of losing her husband.
