An Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, has killed nine of the ten children of Dr Alaa al-Najjar, a paediatrician at Nasser Hospital. The hospital confirmed that her husband and one of their children survived the attack but sustained serious injuries.

British surgeon Graeme Groom, who operated on the surviving 11-year-old son, Adam, described the tragedy as “unbearably cruel.” Speaking to the BBC, he expressed anguish that a mother who spent her life saving children could lose almost all her own in a single strike.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it targeted "a number of suspects" in the area and is reviewing claims of civilian casualties. The IDF added that Khan Younis is considered an active war zone, and civilians had been urged to evacuate before military operations began.

Footage verified by the BBC shows the bodies of small children being pulled from rubble following the airstrike. The health ministry, run by Hamas, reported at least 74 people were killed across Gaza within 24 hours of the strike.

Dr Muneer Alboursh, head of Gaza's health ministry, said the al-Najjar family's home was hit shortly after Dr al-Najjar’s husband, Hamdi, returned from driving her to work. The couple’s eldest child was 12 years old.

Surviving son Adam, shown in a family photo wearing traditional blue clothing, is now the only surviving child of the family. According to Mr Groom, Adam arrived in the operating room with his left arm nearly severed and multiple shrapnel wounds. “He felt much younger than 11,” Groom said. “Our little boy could survive, but we don't know about his father.”

The father, also a doctor, reportedly suffered a severe head injury. According to Groom, he had no political or military affiliations and wasn’t active on social media.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for Gaza's Civil Defence agency, confirmed eight bodies and multiple injured individuals were initially recovered from the site, later updated to nine deceased children by the hospital.

Dr Youssef Abu al-Rish said he found Dr al-Najjar waiting outside the operating room, desperate for news of her surviving child. A relative, Youssef al-Najjar, emotionally pleaded: “Enough! Have mercy on us! We are exhausted from displacement and hunger.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the situation in Gaza as potentially “the cruellest phase” of the ongoing war and criticized the restrictions on humanitarian aid. Although Israel partially eased its blockade recently, only 83 aid trucks entered Gaza on Friday—far below the 500–600 trucks per day that the UN says are needed.

Aid shortages have sparked widespread desperation. Armed looters have attacked convoys, and long lines have formed outside bakeries as food scarcity worsens. A UN-backed assessment warned that Gaza’s population is at “critical risk” of famine, with mothers reportedly too malnourished to breastfeed.

Water shortages are also deteriorating, as fuel shortages cripple desalination and hygiene services. Israel says the blockade is part of pressure on Hamas to release hostages still held in Gaza and has accused Hamas of stealing aid—an allegation the group denies.

Israel’s military campaign began after Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack, in which 1,200 people in Israel were killed and 251 taken hostage. According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 53,900 people, including at least 16,500 children, have been killed in the territory since then.