Gaza City, Palestinian territories. Israeli strikes killed five Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, including a nine-year-old boy, health officials said. Medics reported the child was killed in eastern Khan Younis, while four others were killed in Gaza City.
Incidents reported in Khan Younis and Gaza City
Medics said an Israeli drone killed the child, Adel Al‑Najjar, in eastern Khan Younis in the south of the enclave. They said an Israeli airstrike also targeted a vehicle in Gaza City, killing four people.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on either incident.
Family mourning at Nasser Hospital
At Nasser Hospital’s morgue, relatives arrived to bid farewell to Najjar’s small, white‑shrouded body. Women cried next to the body, which lay on a medical stretcher on the floor, and men held a special prayer before carrying him to the cemetery for burial.
Relatives said the boy was collecting cardboard that the family uses for cooking. They said there has been no electricity in Gaza since the war began in October 2023, and Palestinians have complained of Israeli restrictions on the entry of cooking gas.
“We don’t have gas. We collect cardboard to bake, they want to eat; they want to drink,” said one of the boy’s relatives, Sabreen Al-Najjar.
Casualties reported since October 2025 ceasefire
Violence in Gaza has persisted despite an October 2025 ceasefire, with Israel conducting almost daily attacks on Palestinians.
At least 800 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect, according to local medics, while Israel says militant attacks have killed four of its soldiers over the same period.
At the morgue, another relative, Suhaib Al‑Najjar, said: “Isn’t it shameful what is happening to us? Isn’t it shameful that we bury our children every day, right in front of us? Isn’t it shameful? I swear to God, our hearts are breaking for these children.”
What do you think should happen next to protect civilians in Gaza?
