9 of the 10 children of a pediatrician in attack on Gaza die: priest ensures that he will not fall into a desire for revenge

This Friday the Násser Hospital, one of the few who are still operating in southern Gaza, was the scene of one of the most heartbreaking episodes of the war: the Alaa pediatrician when Najjar saw the lifeless bodies of 9 of his 10 children who died by an Israeli bombing arrive. Her husband and also a doctor, Hamdi to Najjar, was injured.

“Both took care of the children of Gaza sick and injured with great competition and dedication. But they will continue to do so with even more love, in memory of their nine angels. In spite of everything, they will not fall into the spiral of revenge that for twenty months involves the holy land,” Father Ibrahim Faults, Vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land.

The Franciscan priest, who has been able to know the mother personally, said that “the death of 9 little brothers in Gaza is disconcerting, not only because of simultaneity, but for the intensity of the violence that has caused it.”

The deceased children are Yahya (12 years old), Rakan (10), Eve (9), Jibran (8), Raslan (7), rival (5), Sadin (3), Luqman (2) and Sidar, a six -month -old baby. According to the Ministry of Health of Gaza, seven of the bodies were recovered and transferred to the hospital; The bodies of the other two children are still under the rubble of the house, which after the bombing caught fire.

His mother Alaa was on duty at the hospital when the ambulances arrived. Inside they lay the bodies of their children. They also moved their wounded husband and little Adam, the only survivor of the ten brothers. Fr. Faults emphasizes that Alaa had given birth to his last son just six months ago. “The eldest of his ten children was twelve,” he adds.

Fr. Faults describes the doctor as a “good, sweet and determined woman.” “A short time after giving birth, he returned to work to ensure attention and care for Gaza’s children,” he recalls.

The Franciscan vicar confirms the brutality of the bombing: “The first missile that fell on her house reduced it to debris; the second fired her.”

“A house with ten children is recognized by sounds, colors, smells. Nine of them no longer have voice, they have become black like coal, they have the smell of death,” he laments.

The rescuers “had difficulty extracting the bodies from the rubble due to their state. Before, they had heard their voices torn by pain. The pain of parents who lose their children, who see them suffer without being able to help them, have a difficult depth and intensity difficult to imagine,” he summarizes.

In the midst of the tragedy, Fr. Faults highlights the testimony of hope and resistance that plays the marriage formed by the Najjar doctors. “Alaa and Hamdi have seen how it folded about their family life, lovingly built, the evil born from hatred,” he says.

May 23, The United Nations reported that at least 60 people had died “in the last 24 hours for Israeli attacks.” He indicated that “the number could be higher, since it has not been possible to access the hospitals in the north of the Strip, where violence continues.”