Israeli forces kill four-day-old twins in Gaza, hospital officials say

 

 

Mohammad Abu Al Qumsan trembled and gasped in disbelief. His eyes glazed over before he collapsed in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza.

“Please. Please. Show me,” he shouted at health officials at the medical facility on Tuesday.

“She just gave birth. Please, let me see.”

Hours earlier, the Palestinian father of two had left his apartment in Deir al-Balah to collect the birth certificates of his three-day-old twins: Aysal and Aser, a boy and a girl.

But while he was out, he said, he received a phone call informing him that an Israeli strike had hit his home, killing his two children and his 28-year-old wife, Jumana.

Footage filmed by a freelance journalist working for CNN shows dozens of mourners crowded around Al Qumsan, near Al Aqsa Hospital.

The men try to console the heartbroken widower, gently stroking his forehead.

In another scene, Al Qumsan can be seen kneeling beside the shrouded bodies of the deceased, before performing Islamic funeral prayers with lines of worshippers. His wife, a pharmacist, and the twins were among at least 23 people, including a nine-month-old baby, killed in separate Israeli strikes in the area, according to hospital officials.

In a statement, the Israeli military said that “the details of the incident as published are not currently known to the IDF,” adding that it “only targets military targets and employs various measures to minimize harm to civilians.”

“May God unite you in paradise, my dear,” said one imam. “I swear by God that you will be reunited with them in paradise and will be with them forever.”

Al Qumsan told CNN that he moved his family to an apartment in Deir al-Balah in a desperate attempt to protect his then-pregnant wife from Israel’s relentless bombing campaign in Gaza, during which at least 115 babies have been born and killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

A few days earlier, Jumana had posted on Facebook to celebrate the birth of her twins, describing them as a “miracle.” The couple had married last summer, before the war between Israel and Hamas began.

“Together forever,” she wrote in a previous social media post announcing their wedding in July 2023.

Israel launched its military offensive on October 7 after the militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza, attacked southern Israel. At least 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others were kidnapped, according to Israeli authorities.

Since then, Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed some 40,000 Palestinians, including more than 16,400 children, and injured more than 92,000, the ministry said.

‘Relentless’ War on Children
Al Qumsan is one of hundreds of thousands of survivors who have no time to grieve against the backdrop of a 10-month-long Israeli offensive that has killed entire families, deepened a humanitarian crisis and turned cities into wastelands.

At least 1.9 million people have been displaced, according to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. The entire population of more than 2.2 million has been exposed to the risk of famine and disease.

But aid workers say Israeli restrictions on aid mean they cannot provide relief to Gazans affected by the war. Meanwhile, health authorities told CNN they are unable to triage wounded Palestinians in a medical system that has been shattered by Israeli attacks. More than 885 health workers have been killed, the ministry said, and fewer than half of the Strip’s 36 hospitals are partially operational.

The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, warned that the “relentless” war in Gaza “continues to inflict horrors on thousands of children”, estimating that there are at least 17,000 unaccompanied or separated children in Gaza.

“I was shocked by the depth of suffering, destruction and widespread displacement in Gaza,” Salim Oweis, a communications officer for UNICEF, said Friday. “The footage the world is seeing on television offers an important glimpse into the hell people have been enduring for more than 10 months.

“What it doesn’t fully show is how behind the collapsed buildings, entire neighborhoods, livelihoods and dreams were razed.” [CNN]

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