Four boys killed by an Israeli drone strike in Gaza

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that South Africa’s ambassador to the United States “is no longer welcome” in the country, in the latest Trump administration move targeting the African nation.

For a year and a half, Umm Mahmoud Alerfan did everything she could to try to keep her children alive. As Israel pummeled Gaza with bombs, she kept them close, inside their shelter, terrified that a missile or sudden airstrike would steal them away.

On Friday, two months since the fragile ceasefire in Gaza was declared, Alerfan, back in Gaza City with her family, was preparing the meal to break the day's Ramadan fast. Two of her sons, Mahmoud Alerfan, 15, and Yusuf Alerfan, 13, stepped outside — just for a moment, just to find firewood for their evening meal.

But an Israeli drone found them first, firing the missile that killed the boys and tearing Alerfan’s life apart.

“Two, both of them in one day,” she screamed, stained with her sons’ blood as she wept into their lifeless bodies, brought to her on a wooden cart. Two of their friends, Malik Althatha, 13, and Salim Hasnin, 15, who had joined them to gather firewood, were also killed.

NBC News' crew on the ground captured the moment as Alerfan clutched their bodies, refusing to let go as her wails echoed through the broken streets. One man holds her back, and guides her away from the bloody scene, her sobs breaking into gasps.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/four-boys-killed-israeli-drone-strike-gaza-rcna196559

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