9-year-old boy killed by Israeli fire
A 9-year-old boy was killed on Tuesday by Israeli fire in southern Gaza, Nasser Hospital said.
The hospital said Adel al-Najjar was collecting firewood in a roundabout in Khan Younis city when Israeli forces shot him about 400 meters (1,312 feet) west of the Yellow Line separating Israeli-controlled areas from the rest of Gaza.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment.
An Associated Press video shows two of the boy’s siblings crying over him on a stretcher at the hospital’s morgue. One knelt on his body and kissed his cheeks.
“What is the guilt of those children,” a woman said during the boy’s funeral. “God is plaguing you, Israel.”
The boy’s younger brother was killed a month ago, also while collecting firewood in Khan Younis, according to hospital records.
Since a ceasefire agreement went into effect in October, Israeli airstrikes and troops firing on Palestinians near military-held zones have killed at least 818 Palestinians, including at least 226 children and 179 women, according to Gaza health officials.
