Gaza doctor loses 9 children as Israel bears down on war

Palestinian doctor Alaa al-Najjar has spent her life caring for the Strip’s sick and wounded children as a pediatric specialist at al-Tahrir Hospital in Gaza.

Palestinian doctor Alaa al-Najjar has spent her life caring for the Strip’s sick and wounded children as a pediatric specialist at al-Tahrir Hospital in Gaza.

On Friday, she lost nine of her own.

An Israeli airstrike struck her home in Khan Younis, killing nearly her entire family, another unbearable blow in a conflict where grief compounds daily, and where Israel’s declared intent to seize full control of Gaza marches forward amid the rising death toll.

Yahya, 12, Eve, 9, Rival, 5, Sadeen, 3, Rakan, 10, Ruslan, 7, Jibran, 8, Luqman, 2, and Sedar, not yet 1 year old, died in the strike on Najjar’s home, according to hospital officials.

Video provided by Gaza's Civil Defense showed a tiny charred body zipped up inside a bag. Sedar’s remains were never found.