Nurse in Gaza Strip loses entire family, including quadruplets, in strike

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

“My entire family was wiped out in an instant,” says Ashraf El Attar, “and I am left with nothing.”

The nurse, who works at the European Hospital in Gaza, said his family's home in Deir al-Balah was hit in the early hours of Sunday morning. He survived with minor injuries.

Israel has not commented on the specific attack, but said its forces were deployed in the city. Israel says it is only targeting members of armed groups.

The attack killed El Attar's wife, teacher Hala Khattab, and their six children – a 15-year-old boy, a one-year-old girl and their four 10-year-old quadruplets.

Speaking to BBC Arabic's Gaza Today podcast, the nurse said he was getting ready for work at around 6am on the morning of the attack when he “heard the alarm and suddenly lost consciousness”.

When he came to, according to El Attar, he was in “severe pain” and the house “was in ruins.”

All exterior walls of their house were destroyed.

“I called desperately for my children and my wife, but it was too late.

“My six children, including four sets of twins, and my wife were killed instantly in the attack,” he says.

The strike took them by surprise, says El Attar. The previous evening, the family had “enjoyed a soap opera together” and tried to “escape the harsh reality of war.”

Mr El Attar's mother – and grandmother of his six children – says she “cannot understand” why her house was hit.

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

“We had no ties to any organizations,” she says.

Raising the children, especially the quadruplets, was “incredibly difficult” for the couple, she says.

“The babies had serious health problems in the first few months and almost died.

“We provided oxygen cylinders at home and one of them, Hammam, underwent hernia surgery,” she says.

Mr El Attar said his wife Hala was “wholeheartedly” committed to helping displaced people.

She worked, he says, for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), a UN agency that supports Palestinian refugees.

Now he has to come to terms with the life they could have had together, says the nurse.

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

But now “all these dreams have been destroyed.”

“I demand justice for my family,” he says, promising to achieve this in “any international court.”

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

The Israel Defense Forces did not comment on this specific attack, but said they were deployed in Deir al-Balah over the weekend.

Another statement on Monday said the terrorist militia had been operating in the outskirts of Deir al-Balah and had “eliminated terrorists and destroyed combat bases above and below ground”.

It claims that the terrorist militia exclusively targets members of armed groups and blames Hamas for the deaths among the civilian population because it posts fighters, weapons, tunnels and rockets in residential areas.

In an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage to Gaza.

That attack sparked a massive Israeli military offensive against Gaza and the current war, which has killed more than 40,170 people, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.