'I lost my whole family,' Palestinian mourns wife and son killed in Israeli strike on Khan Younis

Record ID: 1984620

  • Title: 'I lost my whole family,' Palestinian mourns wife and son killed in Israeli strike on Khan Younis
  • Date: 19th March 2025
  • Summary: KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (MARCH 19, 2025) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE PLACING BODIES ON THE GROUND AT NASSER HOSPITAL IN KHAN YOUNIS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CARRYING BODIES OF THOSE KILLED IN ISRAELI STRIKES MOURNERS GATHERED AROUND BODY WOMAN CARRYING BODY OF A CHILD WRAPPED IN WHITE CLOTH (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN FATHER WHO LOST HIS WIFE AND SON, ALAA ABU HILAL, SAYING: "I wa
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Ceasefire Funeral Gaza Israel Khan Younis Palestinians Strike
  • Location: KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA
  • City: KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA
  • Country: Palestinian Occupied Territory
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
  • Reuters ID: LVA001995319032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
    Palestinian father Alaa Abu Hilal stood in grief outside Gaza's Nasser hospital on Wednesday (March 19), mourning the loss of his pregnant wife and son killed in an Israeli strike overnight on a tent encampment in al-Mawasi area in western Khan Younis.
    "I lost my whole family… my wife was martyred while she was pregnant, and my son was martyred. I went back to point zero again," Abu Hilal said, holding the body of his son.
    The Israeli army, which has resumed a major bombing campaign in Gaza, said on Wednesday it attacked a Hamas military site in northern Gaza overnight.
    Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza and killed more than 400 people on Tuesday (March 18), Palestinian health authorities said, shattering nearly two months of relative calm since a ceasefire began, as Israel warned the onslaught was "just the beginning."
    Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas accused each other of breaching the truce. It had broadly held since January and offered respite from war for the 2.3 million inhabitants of Gaza, which has been reduced to rubble.
    Hamas, which still holds 59 of the 250 or so hostages Israel says the group seized in its October 7, 2023 attack, accused Israel of jeopardizing efforts by mediators to negotiate a permanent deal to end the fighting, but the group made no threat of retaliation.
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered strikes because Hamas had rejected proposals to secure a ceasefire extension.
    Netanyahu called on Gazans to get out of harm's way and move to safer areas, blaming every civilian casualty on Hamas.
    The war erupted after Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
    The Israeli campaign in Gaza has killed more than 48,000 people, say Palestinian health authorities.
    (Production: Hussam al-Masri, Bassam Masoud, Heba Fouad)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: WARNING: Editors please note, this clip contains graphic material
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