A quiet morning turned into a nightmare for the al-Nouri family when an Israeli airstrike struck just meters away from a group of women and children waiting outside the Altayara health clinic in Deir al-Balah.
The strike, which occurred around 7:15 a.m. Thursday, killed 16 civilians, including 10 children and three women, according to Dr Mithqal Abutaha of the US-based aid group Project Hope.
Among the victims were five-year-old Amir and his 14-year-old cousin Sama, who had taken Amir and his two brothers, Omar (9) and Siraj (2), to the clinic in hopes of receiving nutritional supplements. The children were waiting on the pavement when the explosion hit.
“Omar still had some breath in him,” their mother, Iman al-Nouri, told a local journalist. “They tried to revive him. They gave him blood after an hour, but it was in vain.”
Iman’s youngest, Siraj, suffered catastrophic injuries—bleeding from the head, a fractured skull, and the loss of an eye. Doctors say they are unable to treat him.
“Since yesterday morning, he’s in the same condition. He’s still breathing. Save him!” Iman pleaded.
The Israeli military said it had targeted a “Hamas terrorist” and acknowledged that civilians were harmed, stating the incident was under review. However, Dr Abutaha challenged the justification, emphasizing that the Altayara clinic was a “deconflicted humanitarian facility” recognized by the UN and free from military presence.
Footage of the strike shows the explosion occurring close to two men walking along the street, with women and children nearby. In the graphic aftermath, children’s bodies are seen sprawled across the ground, some being transported to hospital by donkey cart due to the absence of ambulances.
The tragedy underscores Gaza’s escalating humanitarian crisis. Malnutrition is rampant, with children like the al-Nouri boys relying on aid clinics for sustenance. Despite partial easing of Israel’s blockade, food, medicine, and fuel remain in critically short supply.
According to the UN, at least 798 civilians have been killed while trying to access aid, including 615 near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites. The GHF denies these figures, calling them “misleading.”
Israeli and Hamas officials are engaged in fragile ceasefire talks, but Palestinian leaders say negotiations are close to collapse due to disagreements over troop withdrawals and mass displacement plans.
For Iman al-Nouri, any truce would come too late. “They’ve killed us through hunger, gunfire, bombs, and airstrikes,” she said. “My children are gone. May God give me patience.