Alaa Al Najjar | |
|---|---|
| آلاء النجار | |
| Born | Gaza Strip, Palestine |
| Nationality | Palestinian |
| Occupation | Pediatrician |
| Known for | Treating child victims in Gaza; losing nine children in an Israeli airstrike |
Alaa Al-Najjar (Arabic : آلاء النجار, born 1986or1987 [1] ) is a Palestinian pediatrician who works at Al-Tahrir Hospital, part of the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Her name gained international attention in May 2025 after her husband and nine of her children were killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted her family’s home in the Qizan an-Najjar area, south of Khan Younis. [2] [3] [4]
Alaa Al-Najjar comes from a Palestinian family working in the medical field. She worked as a general physician in pediatrics for years at the Nasser Medical Complex, where she was known for her dedication to treating children, especially during periods of military escalation in Gaza. [5]
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]