Four-day-old twins killed in Gaza airstrike while father registered their births
Gaza Conflict: Newborn twins, Asser and Ayssel, were tragically killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza while their father, Mohammed Abu al-Qumsan, was at a local government office to register their births. The twins, only four days old, were at home in Deir al Balah when the strike occurred.
According to Mohammed, he received a call from neighbors while at the office, informing him that his house had been bombed. The attack also claimed the lives of his wife and the twins’ grandmother. Mohammed was left in disbelief, stating, “I don’t know what happened. I am told it was a shell that hit the house,” and lamented, “I didn’t even have the time to celebrate them.”
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has reported that at least 115 infants have been born and then killed during the ongoing conflict. The family had previously evacuated Gaza City based on Israeli instructions, seeking refuge in central Gaza.
The BBC has reached out to the Israeli army for comment on the strike but has yet to receive a response. Israel maintains that it aims to avoid civilian casualties and attributes such deaths to Hamas’ use of civilian areas and buildings as shelters. However, specific comments on individual strikes are rare.
Recent weeks have seen multiple attacks on shelters in Gaza, including a school building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike on Saturday. This strike, which targeted a shelter for displaced Palestinians, resulted in over 70 deaths, according to a hospital director. Israel contends that the school was being used as a Hamas and Islamic Jihad military facility, a claim denied by Hamas. The exact number of casualties remains unverified by independent sources.
The current conflict was sparked by an attack by Hamas gunmen on Israel on October 7, which resulted in approximately 1,200 Israeli deaths and 251 hostages taken to Gaza. This incident led to a significant Israeli military response, resulting in extensive casualties. According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 39,790 Palestinians have been killed in the ongoing Israeli campaign.
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