Alaa Al Najjar

Alaa Al-Najjar worked as a general physician in pediatrics at the Al-Tahrir Clinic within the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. She is widely respected for her dedication to treating child victims of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, often working long hours despite severe shortages of medical staff and resources.^[6][7][8] She returned to work shortly after giving birth to her youngest child, determined to help other children amid relentless attacks and a dire humanitarian crisis.^[7]

On the morning of Friday, May 23, 2025, Alaa left her home for work, while her husband, Hamdi Al-Najjar, returned home. Minutes later, an Israeli airstrike hit their house, resulting in the deaths of nine of their children: Yahya, Rakan, Ruslan, Jubran, Eve, Revan, Saydeen, Luqman, and Sidra. The eldest was 12 years old, and the youngest was six months old. Their tenth child, Adam, survived the strike but sustained serious injuries.^[9] Her husband, Dr. Hamdi al-Najjar, also a doctor at Nasser Hospital, was critically injured in the strike and succumbed to his wounds a week later.^[10]