By V.E.K.Madhushani, Jadetimes News
Tragedy Strikes as Family Suffers Unimaginable Loss Amid Ongoing Conflict
Newborn twins were reportedly killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza while their father was at a local government office to register their birth. Asser, a boy, and Ayssel, a girl, were just four days old when their father, Mohammed Abu al Qumsan, went to collect their birth certificates. While he was away, his neighbors called to inform him that their home in Deir al Balah had been bombed. The strike also claimed the lives of his wife and the twins' grandmother.
“I don’t know what happened,” Abu al Qumsan said. “I am told it was a shell that hit the house.” He added, "I didn't even have the time to celebrate them."
Gaza’s Hamas run health ministry reports that 115 infants have been born and subsequently killed during the ongoing war. According to the AP news agency, the family had complied with an order to evacuate Gaza City during the early weeks of the Israel Gaza conflict, seeking refuge in a central part of the strip as instructed by the Israeli army.
The BBC has reached out to the Israeli army for comment on the strike and is awaiting a response. Israel maintains that it tries to avoid harming civilians, attributing civilian casualties to Hamas operating within dense residential areas, including using civilian buildings as shields. However, officials rarely provide commentary on individual strikes.
In recent weeks, several shelters in Gaza have been attacked. On Saturday, an Israeli air strike targeted a school building in Gaza City that was sheltering displaced Palestinians, resulting in more than 70 deaths, according to a hospital director. An Israeli military spokesman stated that the school "served as an active Hamas and Islamic Jihad military facility," a claim that Hamas denied. Israel disputed the reported number of casualties, though the BBC was unable to independently verify figures from either side.
This tragic event is part of the broader conflict that began after Hamas led gunmen killed approximately 1,200 people in an attack on Israel on October 7, taking 251 others hostage back to Gaza. This attack prompted a massive Israeli military offensive on Gaza, leading to the ongoing war. According to Gaza's Hamas run health ministry, more than 39,790 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's campaign.
