CAIRO: The bodies of 79 people killed by Israeli strikes have been brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Health Ministry revealed, a toll that doesn’t include hospitals in the battered north that it said are now inaccessible.
Nine of a doctor’s 10 children were among those killed in Israel’s renewed military offensive, colleagues and the Health Ministry said.
Alaa Najjar, a pediatrician at Nasser Hospital, was on duty at the time and ran home to find her family’s house on fire, Ahmad al-Farra, head of the hospital’s pediatric department, told The mediaperson.
Najjar’s husband was severely wounded and their only surviving child, an 11-year-old son, was in critical condition after Friday’s strike in the southern city of Khan Younis, Farra said.
The dead children ranged in age from 7 months to 12 years old. Khalil Al-Dokran, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Health Ministry, revealed, adding two of the children remained under the rubble.
Israel’s military in a statement said it struck suspects operating from a structure next to its forces, and described the area of Khan Younis as a “dangerous war zone.” It said it had evacuated civilians from the area, and “the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review.”
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