Gaza's civil defense agency said an Israeli strike in the southern city of Khan Younis on Friday killed nine of the 10 children of a married doctor couple.

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said Saturday that civil defense "crews transported the bodies of nine child martyrs, some of them charred, from the home of Dr. Hamdi al-Najjar and his wife, Dr. Alaa al-Najjar, all of whom were their children."

In a statement, Israel's military said it struck suspects operating from a structure near to its forces and described the area of Khan Younis as a "dangerous war zone."

The military said it had evacuated civilians from the area and that "the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review."

What do we know about the incident?

Alaa al-Najjar, a pediatrician at Nasser Hospital, was on duty when she ran home and found her family's house on fire, Ahmad al-Farra, head of the hospital's pediatrics department told the Associated Press. 

Muneer Alboursh, director general of the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, said on X that the strike happened shortly after Hamdi Al-Najjar drove his wife to work.

"Just minutes after returning home, a missile struck their house," he said, adding the father was "in intensive care."

Farra said that the couple's only surviving child, an 11-year-old son, was in critical condition after the strike. The dead children ranged in age from seven months to 12 years old.

Germany's antisemitism chief urges debate on Israel support

The latest strike in Gaza come as European counties such as the UK and France grow increasingly critical of Israel's military operations there.   

Felix Klein, the German government's antisemitism commissioner, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that, while protecting Israel and defending its right to exist are fundamental to German policy, support can only go so far.

"We must do everything in our power to preserve the security of Israel and Jews worldwide," he said. "But we must also make it clear that this does not justify everything."

Protecting Israel's security and supporting its interests in international organizations is one of Germany's "Staatsräson" ('Reason of state'). The policy is tied to Germany's historical responsibility to Israel after the Holocaust during World War II, in which 6 million Jews were killed.

Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza in response to a Hamas terror attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Hamas' attack on Israel killed some 1,200 people, with Hamas and other Palestinian groups also taking 251 hostages.   

Gaza's health authorities say nearly 54,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip amid Israeli attacks. Although Israel and the US have criticized this death toll figure, the UN and other international bodies have viewed the Gaza Health Ministry figures as broadly reliable.     

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic. A country that occupies a territory must ensure that the population is adequately fed, that relief supplies get through and that medical care can take place," Klein said.

He emphasized that Israel is entitled to defend itself against Hamas, whom he accused of "genocidal hatred," but he questioned the "proportionality" of Israel's military action.

Edited by: Wesley Dockery