Newborn twins killed in Israeli strike in Gaza 'incredibly heartbreaking': US

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The killing of four-day-old twins in an Israeli airstrike as their father went to get birth certificates was "incredibly heartbreaking," the US State Department said Tuesday.

"So, I'm not going to speak to specific instances and incidents that happen. I will let the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) speak to any operations they can take.

"I will say, just hearing this from your reporting, this is obviously incredibly heartbreaking," deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

His remarks came after the twins were killed Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike in the central Gaza Strip as their father Mohammad Abu al-Qumsan went to collect their birth certificates.

The babies were born Saturday in Deir al-Balah, but the strike on their apartment shattered the family’s joy.

"And again, Israel has every moral and strategic imperative to minimize civilian loss. But I don't have any of the other contours surrounding this operation, and I will let the IDF speak to that," said Patel.

The attack was part of Israel’s offensive on Gaza, which has killed nearly 40,000 victims since Oct. 7.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack last October by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

More than 100 months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.