### Tragedy Unfolds as Israeli Strike Kills Nine Children of Gaza Doctor

Nearly the entire family of Dr. Alaa al-Najjar, a pediatrician from Khan Younis, has perished in an Israeli strike, health officials reported. The attack on Friday targeted her home, incinerating it and claiming the lives of nine of her ten children. Dr. Ahmad al-Farra, the head of the pediatrics department at Nasser Hospital, confirmed the tragic news.

Dr. al-Najjar’s husband survived but is severely injured, while their sole surviving child, 11-year-old Adam, is in critical condition. The Gaza Government Media Office detailed that the children killed were aged between seven months and twelve years. Among them were Sidar, Luqman, Sadin, Reval, Ruslan, Jubran, Eve, Rakan, and Yahya, with two children still trapped beneath the rubble.

The Gaza Government Media Office has described the attack as an embodiment of the "ongoing genocide faced by the Palestinian people in Gaza," labeling it a "full-fledged war crime under all international laws and conventions." Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, condemned the incident as a component of a "sadistic pattern" emblematic of a "new phase of genocide" against Palestinians.

Hamas has accused Israel of consistently targeting medical personnel and civilians to demoralize the population. In response, the Israeli military said it targeted suspected fighters in an area where civilians had already been evacuated, and that reports of civilian casualties are undergoing review.

Khan Younis, Gaza's second-largest city, has been subjected to severe bombardment daily since Israel issued forced evacuation orders on Monday, warning of an "unprecedented attack." The al-Najjar family tragedy occurred amid this intense bombardment, part of broader hostilities which resulted in dozens more deaths on Friday and Saturday.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, 79 bodies of those killed in Israeli assaults were brought to hospitals between Friday and Saturday afternoon, figures not accounting for fatalities in northern regions rendered inaccessible by ongoing conflict. The ministry reports a staggering death toll of 53,901 in Gaza since October 2023, with 122,593 individuals injured.