From civil registry to mass graves: Gaza’s vanishing generations

The bombing of the home of Palestinian doctor Alaa Al-Najjar in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, which led to the martyrdom of her nine children and left her husband and only surviving child in intensive care, was neither the first nor the only incident in Gaza to claim the lives of so many children from a single family.

The newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, in its latest statistical report on the crimes of the occupiers in Gaza, stated that it appears the occupiers are focusing on targeting children and women, resulting in the martyrdom of approximately 16,500 children and tens of thousands of injuries. Many injured children need to travel abroad for treatment, but with the healthcare system nearly collapsed, the occupiers have sealed off crossings, preventing their treatment.

The Gaza Ministry of Health announced that this number of child martyrs reflects the extent of the deliberate and systematic targeting of the most vulnerable and innocent segments of society. The ministry also released a breakdown of the ages of the martyred children as follows:

• Infants (under 1 year): 916 martyrs
• Children (1–5 years): 4,365 martyrs
• Children (6–12 years): 6,101 martyrs
• Adolescents (13–17 years): 5,124 martyr

But the tragedy does not end there. Due to the occupying army’s focus on targeting residential areas and refugee tents, hundreds of Palestinian families have been erased from civil registries. According to data from the Gaza government’s media office, over 12,000 crimes have occurred since the onset of the attacks, most of which targeted Palestinian families.

Approximately 2,200 families, with 6,350 martyrs, have been completely wiped out. Additionally, over 5,120 families are left with only one surviving member, collectively losing more than 9,350 members.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Social Development, the number of orphans in the Gaza Strip has doubled since the start of the attacks, rising from about 25,000 to nearly 50,000.

The report states that Gaza is in a dire humanitarian and social situation due to the ongoing Israeli attacks for the nineteenth consecutive month, continued massacres, food shortages, and the collapse of the healthcare system. According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 343 children born during the Gaza war were martyred—some due to Israeli bombings and others due to the disruption of the healthcare system and hospital closures.

Diaa Abdel Rabbo, a Palestinian citizen from Gaza, says that there is no trace left of his neighbor’s family, known as Al-Dalu, as their name has been completely erased from the civil registry.

He told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed: “This family was entirely annihilated; none of its members survived the bombing in northern Gaza, and all family members, including children and women, were martyred. The occupiers want to completely destroy us and erase our existence, exploiting global silence and U.S. support to achieve this goal. Thousands of children and an equal number of women have been killed since the war began, and no one asks what crime they committed.”

According to reports from the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, the Israeli occupying army has issued at least 35 forced eviction orders for Gaza Strip residents since the beginning of the year, affecting over one million people. This is while all Gaza residents were already suffering from the consequences of previous eviction orders.

Israel has intensified efforts to confine Palestinians to a small area near the southern Gaza coast, seemingly as a prelude to their forced expulsion from their homeland, exactly as outlined in U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently cited as a political condition for ending military operations in the Gaza Strip.

Ashraf Muteir, a Palestinian citizen, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed: “Five of my sister’s children were killed in the bombing of their family home in the Nuseirat camp, leaving her with only one infant. My sister survived the attack, as did her husband, who was not at home at the time. The occupiers aim to either completely annihilate us or expel us, and they announce this day and night, while the world remains silent and does nothing to stop this insane war that has continued for a second year.”

According to the report, the average daily number of Palestinian martyrs over the past two weeks has ranged between 80 and 120, indicating an escalation of Israeli attacks and the absence of any safe haven for Palestinians.

Mohammad Samour, a citizen who experienced similar circumstances, said: “Four of my brother’s children, along with his wife, were martyred in an Israeli artillery attack while fleeing the Sheikh Radwan area in northern Gaza City. My brother and his family had left their home after the occupying army issued evacuation orders via airdropped leaflets, but immediately after leaving, an Israeli shell was fired at them and other displaced people, resulting in the martyrdom of his entire family.”

Most of the remaining hospitals in the Gaza Strip are operating at limited capacity, as many medical facilities have been rendered inoperable. The European Gaza Hospital, Indonesian Hospital, and Kamal Adwan Hospital have shut down in recent days, and only Al-Shifa, Nasser, Al-Aqsa Martyrs, and Al-Ahli Arab (Christian) hospitals are functioning at partial capacity due to repeated attacks.