GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Saturday that an Israeli strike in the southern city of Khan Yunis at least nine children from the same family, with the Israeli army saying it was reviewing the reports.

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said civil defence crews retrieved “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”.

He added that Hamdi al-Najjar and another son, Adam, were also seriously wounded in the strike on Friday. A medical source at Nasser Hospital, where Alaa al-Najjar works, gave Adam’s age as 10 years old.

Footage of the aftermath released by the civil defence agency showed rescuers recovering badly burned remains from the damaged home. Asked about the incident, the Israeli military said it had “struck a number of suspects who were identified operating from a structure” near its troops.

“The Khan Yunis area is a dangerous warzone,” it added. “The claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review.” The army had issued an evacuation warning for Khan Yunis on Monday. The children’s funeral took place at Nasser Hospital, a footage showed.

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”.

“This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain,” he said. “In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targeted — Israel’s aggression goes further, wiping out entire families.”

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2025