“The death of 9 of the 10 children of Palestinian Dr. Alaa Al-Najjar as a result of an Israeli government airstrike in the Gaza Strip on Saturday [May 24] is yet another shameful and cowardly act. Her only surviving son and her husband, also a doctor, remain in hospital in critical condition. This episode symbolizes, in all its dimensions, the cruelty and inhumanity of a conflict that pits a heavily armed state against a defenseless civilian population, victimizing innocent women and children on a daily basis,” Brazilian President Lula da Silva posted on his X account.
“It’s no longer about the right to defense, fighting terrorism or seeking the release of hostages held by Hamas. What we see in Gaza today is revenge. The only objective of the current phase of this genocide is to deprive the Palestinians of the minimum living conditions in order to expel them from their legitimate territory,” he added.
The first Israeli missile which struck the home of Dr. Al-Hajjar, as she was working in the emergency room in the Nassar Hospital in Khan Younis, failed to explode. Her husband, who had been out seeking food for the family, saw the missile hit as he returned and rushed into the house to save the children, when the second, precisely-aimed missile destroyed the house, killing all but two inside.
The nine children killed, ages 7 months to 12 years old, were named Yahya, Rakan, Ruslan, Jubran, Eve, Revan, Sayden, Luqman and Sidra. Their brother Adam, age 11, and their father, Dr. Hamdi al-Najjar, remain hospitalized; the father is in critical condition.
Dr. Ahmed al-Farra, the director of the children’s building at the Nasser Hospital, asked of the world: “My only hope is that those who were killed are not just names on paper. We were created just like every other human being in this world. And like every other human, we have the right to live.” May we all redouble our efforts to secure that most basic human right for the Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank!
