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• Wed Jun 11 2025

Gaza doctor whose nine children were killed in Israeli strike evacuated with son

11 hours ago Share Save Alys Davies BBC News Share Save

Getty Images Adam al-Najjar, pictured with his cousin, is the only one of his siblings to have survived an Israeli strike on his family's home

A Palestinian doctor whose nine children and husband were killed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza last month is being evacuated to Italy with her only surviving child. Dr Alaa al-Najjar and her 11-year-old son Adam al-Najjar were scheduled to fly to Milan in northern Italy on Wednesday evening, Italy's foreign ministry said. The boy will receive treatment for his injuries there. Alaa's husband, Dr Hamdi al-Najjar, and nine of their children were killed after their home in the southern city of Khan Younis was struck on 23 May. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said at the time the incident was being reviewed. The BBC has contacted the IDF for an updated comment.

Footage posted online by Palestinian journalists Mohammad Salama and Hala Asfour on Wednesday showed the boy and his mother getting into a Red Crescent ambulance and waving goodbye as they made their way out of Gaza. In an interview with Italian newspaper la Repubblica published ahead of their evacuation, Alaa said Adam's condition was stable but "his left arm is in bad shape, the bones are fractured and the nerves are damaged". The mother and son, along with 17 other injured Palestinians, plus their relatives, were set to cross the border to the Israeli city of Eilat on Wednesday, where they would then be flown to various cities in Italy on chartered flights by the Italian Air Force, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement. The flight carrying Adam was due to land at Milan's Linate airport, the statement said. Including Wednesday's mission, 150 Palestinian patients have been evacuated from Gaza to Italy for medical treatment, as well as more than 450 accompanying family members, the foreign ministry added.

Alaa's husband, Hamdi, had just returned from dropping his wife at Nasser Hospital where they both worked when the deadly attack on their home took place in May. Hamdi was taken to hospital with brain and internal injuries but died days later. Adam was severely injured but survived the attack. A British surgeon who treated him said Adam's "left arm was just about hanging off, he was covered in fragment injuries and he had several substantial lacerations" when he arrived at the hospital.

Watch: Surgeon in Gaza recalls moment sole child survivor entered operating room