Gaza nurse loses entire family including quadruplets in strike

A nurse in Gaza told the BBC that his wife and six children – including a set of quadruplets – were killed in an attack on the central Gaza Strip.

“My entire family was wiped out in an instant,” says Ashraf Al-Attar, “and I have nothing left.”

The nurse, who works at the European Gaza Hospital, said his family’s home in Deir al-Balah was bombed in the early hours of Sunday morning, and he escaped death with minor injuries.

Israel did not specifically address the attack, but said its forces were operating in the city. It said it was targeting only members of armed groups.

Mr. Attar’s wife, Hala Khattab, a teacher, and their six children, a 15-year-old boy, a one-year-old girl, and 10-year-old quadruplets, were killed in the raid.

Speaking to BBC Arabic’s Gaza Today programme, the nurse said he was preparing to go to work at around 6am on the day of the attack when he “heard the alarm and suddenly lost consciousness”.

Mr Al-Attar said that when he regained consciousness he was in “severe pain” and the house was “in ruins”.

All the exterior walls of the building they live in have been destroyed.

“I cried out so hard for my children and my wife, but it was too late.

“My six children, including quadruplets, and my wife were killed instantly in the attack,” he says.

Mr. Attar says the strike took them by surprise. The night before, the family had spent some time “enjoying a TV series together,” trying to “escape the harsh reality of war.”

Attar’s mother – and grandmother of his six children – says she “cannot understand” why their home was bombed.

“My son Ashraf works as a nurse at the European Hospital, where he is dedicated to helping patients.

“We had no relations with any organization,” she says.

She says the couple had a “very difficult time” raising their children, especially the quadruplets.

“The children faced serious health problems in the first months of their lives and almost died.

“We had oxygen cylinders at home, and one of them, Hamam, had a hernia operation,” she says.

Mr Al-Attar says his wife, Hala, was “dedicated” to helping the displaced.

She said she worked for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), a UN agency that provides support to Palestinian refugees.

The nurse now says he has to adjust to the life they could have had together.

“I worked tirelessly to support my family and watch my children grow up, and I dreamed of giving them a better future – a big house, a car, mobile phones,” he says.

But now “all those dreams have been destroyed.”

“I demand justice for my family,” he says, something he has vowed to pursue through “any international court.”

“Israel committed a grave injustice. My entire family was wiped out in an instant, and I have nothing left.”

The IDF did not comment on this specific strike, but said it was operating in Deir al-Balah over the weekend.

In another statement issued on Monday, it said it was operating on the outskirts of Deir al-Balah “to eliminate terrorists and destroy combat complexes above and below ground.”

Israel says it only targets members of armed groups, and blames civilian deaths on Hamas – which it says emplaces fighters, weapons, tunnels and rockets in residential areas.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people in an attack on Israel, and took 251 others hostage to Gaza.

The attack led to a large-scale Israeli military assault on Gaza and the current war, in which more than 40,170 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory.