They Are Alive with Their Lord’: Palestinian Doctor’s First Words After Losing Nine Children in Israeli Strike

Watan-In one of the most heartbreaking stories since the Israeli assault on Gaza began, Sahar al-Najjar, a pharmacist from Khan Younis, recounted the moments following an airstrike that killed nine children of her sister, pediatrician Alaa al-Najjar. Their home in the Qizan al-Najjar area in southern Khan Younis was directly targeted.

Speaking on the “Gaza Today” podcast, Sahar said:”In shock, I told her: ‘The children are gone, Alaa.’ She replied, full of faith: ‘They are alive, being provided for by their Lord.’”

The airstrike hit while Dr. Alaa was on duty in the pediatric ward of Nasser Medical Complex, unaware of the tragedy unfolding at home.

Sahar added:”Their mother is in shock right now. I’m only afraid for the moment her strength breaks. Yahiya, Rakan, Ruslan, Jubran, Eve, Rivan, Saydin, Luqman, Sidra—nine butterflies, the eldest was 12, the youngest just six months. All of them had memorized the Quran. Each child was one year apart. She lost nine of her ten children in one blow. The only survivor, Adam, is now in intensive care after two emergency surgeries.”

Dr. Alaa Al-Najjar, who lost nine of her children and received the bodies of seven of them while performing her duties, did not leave her post at Nasser Hospital or take off her white coat after receiving her children as martyrs. Her husband, Dr. Hamdi Al-Najjar—who now lies in… pic.twitter.com/4R8aV4tzDE

— Dr.Muneer Alboursh د.منيرالبرش (@Dr_Muneer1) May 25, 2025

Describing the moment Alaa learned of her children’s deaths:”She had been trying to save other children’s lives at Nasser hospital. Then she ran through the streets toward home, desperate to see her children one last time—but we couldn’t even recognize the bodies. They were dismembered… burned beyond recognition.”

Sahar firmly denied any link to Hamas:”We are a medical family, working in health professions. There was no justification for this. We only wanted safety. That’s why we stayed together at home, thinking it would protect us. But to lose nine children in a moment—children who had just been playing, eating, running around you—is a trauma no mind can comprehend.”

She continued with anguish:”The strike was brutal. They targeted the basement with a massive explosion, even though they knew only children were inside.”

Sahar recalled the hours before the attack:”We were trapped on Osama al-Najjar Street. After a nearby strike, we contacted the Red Cross, fearing for our lives as Israeli drones hovered overhead. Then a missile struck our house but didn’t explode. My father urged us to wave a white flag so Israeli forces would let us move to my uncle’s house. But they struck again—and then it happened.”

Ali, brother of Dr. Hamdi al-Najjar, gave another chilling account on the same podcast.

“We realized hope was gone,” he said, questioning why his brother, who devoted his life to his family and patients, was targeted.

The house sheltered an extended family, making evacuation nearly impossible.

“Every day he would drive his wife to the hospital and come home to care for his kids and run his clinic. Is it logical he was a security target? He hadn’t moved homes since the war began.”

When Ali heard the news, he didn’t wait for civil defense.

“I ran to my brother’s house, praying I could save even one child. I found him and his son Adam covered in blood. Civil defense had arrived by then, and I rushed them to the hospital.”

He returned to help with the rescue:”The house was rubble. Everyone inside was gone.”

The most painful moment came when he saw his brother’s wife watching bodies being pulled from the wreckage.

“She couldn’t recognize the first three. But when we pulled out the fourth, she screamed: ‘That’s Rivan… give her to me.’ She hugged the body, still hoping her daughter was alive, trying to wake her.”

Ali concluded:”We managed to recover and bury seven bodies in two graves. Two children are still missing. I will keep searching for them.”