Hospitalized Gazan boy grieves loss of family members in Israeli strike

By Nour Abuaisha

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - A Palestinian boy was devastated on Friday upon receiving the news that most of his family members had been killed while he was being treated at a government hospital in central Gaza.

Musab Azzam, who sustained injuries to his legs and left arm from Israeli artillery shelling that targeted his home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, learned of the death of eight family members, leaving him in a state of shock.

Earlier, Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said that the Israeli military committed a massacre in an artillery strike targeting the Tel al-Nuwairi area west of the Nuseirat camp, killing eight Palestinians, including children, and injuring several others.

Anadolu captured the boy's shock upon hearing the news of his family's deaths as he requested, in a trembling voice, to say goodbye to his mother before her burial.

With tears rolling down his cheeks, he expressed his grief, recalling his father's words: “He used to say, whoever loses their mother and father loses all their loved ones.”

Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 41,300 people, mostly women and children, have since been killed and more than 95,500 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio