Doctor based in Ireland loses nine nieces and nephews in Israeli airstrike on Gaza
A Sligo-based paediatrician has shared his anguish following the loss of his nine nieces and nephews in a devastating Israeli airstrike in Gaza.
Dr. Ali Al Najjar, who is on the medical staff at Sligo University Hospital, is grieving after the majority of his sister Dr Alaa al-Najjar's family died in the strike. While Dr Alaa Al-Najjar was on duty at the Nasser medical complex during the attack, one of her sons survived, but her husband Dr Hamdi al-Najjar is critically injured.
In a heart-wrenching turn of events, seven of her 10 children were brought to the very hospital where she works just hours after their deaths. The youngest child, six-month-old Sayden, is still buried under debris following the airstrike that hit Khan Younis on Friday, May 23, reports the Irish Mirror.
Overwhelmed by the news of the missile strike, Dr Al Najjar described himself as being like a "mad person" in his frantic search for information. He detailed the extreme difficulty in contacting family members in Gaza, mentioning that his last conversation with his sister was about three weeks before the tragic incident on Friday.
"She was describing how life is like while she walks among the rubble," he said. "She usually walks as her eyes stare at the sky. Because every building she looks at carries out its own special memory."
He told RTE's Liveline: "All you'd be looking at is rumble, dismantled, destroyed houses, buildings - we have memories with every single thing you see around you. I remember specifically she said I don't know what life is about at your side - we believe that we are already experiencing what doomsday is."
Dr Al Najjar recounted the harrowing reality that in Gaza, residents part ways with a sense of finality, due to the pervasive fear of death. He said: "Every moment, she tells me, when I meet or greet anybody on the street, we'll always be saying farewell or goodbye - we never know when we're going to meet again. Everybody is expecting his moment at any time."
Even amidst the relentless bombings, Dr Al Najjar said his sister urged her children to stay optimistic. He added that global outrage and particularly condemnation from within the Jewish community gives him hope "that one day this nightmare will end".
Nevertheless, Dr Al Najjar stressed the neeed for government intervention to pressurise Israel into halting its military strikes. He said: "Has (humanity) done enough that what is happening in Gaza won't be repeated again?"
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