
A nurse in Gaza has instructed the BBC his spouse and 6 kids – together with a gaggle of quadruplets – have been killed in an assault within the central Gaza strip.
“My complete household has been worn out instantly”, says Ashraf El Attar, “leaving me with nothing”.
The nurse – who works at Gaza’s European hospital – says his household residence in Deir-al-Balah was hit within the early hours of Sunday morning. He survived with minor accidents.
Israel has not spoken about this particular assault, however has stated its forces have been working within the metropolis. It says it solely targets members of armed teams.
Killed within the strike have been Mr El Attar’s spouse – Hala Khattab, a trainer – and their six kids – a 15-year-old boy, a one-year-old woman, and their 4 10-year-old quadruplets.
Speaking to BBC Arabic’s Gaza Today podcast, the nurse says that round 6am on the morning of the assault he was preparing for work when he “heard the alarm sound and all of the sudden misplaced consciousness”.
When he got here to, Mr El Attar says he was in “extreme ache” and the home “was in ruins”.
All the outer partitions of their condo constructing have been destroyed.
“I desperately known as out for my kids and my spouse, however it was too late.
“My six kids, together with 4 twins, and my spouse have been killed immediately within the assault,” he says.
The strike took them without warning, Mr El Attar says. The night time earlier than, the household had frolicked “having fun with a cleaning soap opera collectively”, making an attempt to “escape the cruel actuality of warfare”.

Mr El Attar’s mom – and grandmother to his six kids – says she “can’t comprehend” why their residence was hit.
“My son Ashraf works as a nurse on the European hospital, the place he’s devoted to serving to sufferers.
“We had no connections with any organisations,” she says.
The couple had an “extremely difficult time” elevating their kids, she says, specifically the quadruplets.
“The infants confronted extreme well being points of their early months and practically died.
“We offered oxygen cylinders at residence, and one in every of them, Hammam, underwent hernia surgical procedure,” she says.

Mr El Attar says his spouse – Hala – was “devoted” to serving to displaced individuals.
She was working for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa), he says, a UN company that gives help for Palestinian refugees.
Now the nurse says he’s pressured to come back to phrases with the life they may have had collectively.
“I labored tirelessly to help my household and watch my kids develop up, dreaming of giving them a greater future – a giant home, a automotive, and cell phones,” he says.
But now “all these goals have been destroyed”.
“I demand justice for my household”, he says, one thing he vows to pursue by means of “any worldwide courtroom”.
“Israel has dedicated a grave injustice. My complete household has been worn out instantly, leaving me with nothing.”
The Israel Defense Forces has not commented on this particular strike, however has stated it was working in Deir al-Balah over the weekend.
In one other assertion on Monday, it stated it had been working within the outskirts of Deir al-Balah “eliminating terrorists, destroying fight compounds above and beneath floor”.
It says it solely targets members of armed teams, and blames civilian deaths on Hamas – who it says locations fighters, weapons, tunnels and rockets in residential areas.
Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 individuals in an assault on Israel on 7 October 2023, taking 251 others again to Gaza as hostages.
That assault triggered a large Israeli army offensive towards Gaza and the present warfare, throughout which greater than 40,170 individuals have been killed in Gaza, in keeping with the territory’s Hamas-run well being ministry.