‘New phase of genocide:’ Gaza doctor loses nine of her 10 children in Israeli strike

TEHRAN (Iran News) A Palestinian pediatrician, Dr. Alaa al-Najjar, was working at al-Tahrir Hospital in the Nasser Medical Complex when she tragically discovered that nine of her children had been killed when an Israeli airstrike hit their home in southern Gaza.

While tending to casualties at the hospital on Friday, Al-Najjar was devastated to see the severely burned bodies of her children brought in.

The children, ranging in age from six months to 12 years, were identified as Yahya, Rakan, Ruslan, Jubran, Eve, Revan, Sayden, Luqman, and Sidra. The only surviving child remains in critical condition.

In a post on her X account on Saturday, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, said, “Two doctors go to work to assist others. Nine of their kids were killed by an Israeli missile targeting their home. Only surviving child, in critical condition.”

She added, “Targeting families in the still-standing buildings: distinguishable sadistic pattern of the new phase of the genocide.”

According to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, at least 1,400 healthcare professionals have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023.

“This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain,” Dr. Munir al-Bursh, director general of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, said in a post on X, condemning the attack. “Israeli strike”

“In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targeted. Israel’s aggression goes further, wiping out entire families.”

Hamas condemned the Israeli attack on the home of Dr. Al-Najjar as “a horrific massacre.”

“This heinous crime clearly expresses the sadistic nature of the occupation, and the level of the deep-rooted spirit of revenge that drives [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his gang of murderers and human monsters,” the Palestinian group said in a statement.

Hamas pointed out that the Israeli regime has been “deliberately targeting the medical personnel, civilians and their families in an attempt to break their will” since it unleashed the genocidal war on Gaza.