Photo:Hatem Khaled/Reuters
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) has announced the launch of an investigation following reports that an Israeli drone strike on a residential building in Khan Younis killed nine children. This was reported by Israeli media with reference to the IDF press service.
According to the BBC, the attack took place on Friday while paediatrician Alaa al-Najjar was working at the Al-Tahrir clinic. Her home in the southern part of Khan Younis was attacked when her husband had just returned home. According to media reports, one child and the doctor’s husband were seriously injured but survived, and her 11-year-old son underwent emergency surgery.
Colleagues and sources at the hospital said the family had no ties to Hamas. Witnesses said that the doctor fainted when she saw the bodies of her children in the hospital, Israeli channel N12 reported.
The IDF said that at the time of the attack, its forces were targeting militants near Israeli positions, and the area had been previously cleared of civilians, according to them. However, the allegations of civilian deaths are being investigated.
In response to the tragedy, Dr Munir Al-Bursch, head of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health, wrote on social media:
“This is the reality in which our medical staff work. In Gaza, not only doctors are being targeted, but entire families are being killed.”
