Baby twins killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza as father registered births

Mother of the twins described their birth as a ‘miracle’ in a Facebook post four days ago

An Israeli military strike in Gaza killed a set of newborn twins along with their mother and grandmother just as the father was registering their births at a local government office.

Mohammed Abu al-Qumsan was getting birth registration certificates made for the twins – a boy, Asser, and a girl, Ayssel – when his neighbours called to inform him that his house in Deir al-Balah had been bombed by the Israelis.

The family had reportedly evacuated to a “safer area” as instructed by the Israeli military.

“I don’t know what happened,” Mr Abu al-Qumsan said. “I am told it was a shell that hit the house. I didn’t even have the time to celebrate them.”

The Independent has reached out to the Israeli military for comment.

Israeli forces launched an air and ground war on the territory last October and have killed nearly 39,790 Palestinians over the past 10 months, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, including 115 newborn babies. Israel launched the offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel and killed nearly 1,200 people.

Joumana Arafa, a pharmacist, had her twin babies delivered by caesarean section four days earlier and shared the news on Facebook. She described the twins as a “miracle” in her post.

“I went to get my children’s birth certificates. My wife gave birth days ago and I did not have the opportunity to celebrate their birth. She had a C-section and she was very tired. She was unable to leave the house,” the father told Al Jazeera.

The twins and their mother were buried in the same body bag.

In videos posted on social media, the father is shown kneeling beside the shrouded bodies of his family, leading the funeral prayers.

Meanwhile, the US has approved $20bn (£16bn) in arms sales to Israel despite pressure from activists and human rights groups.

According to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the Israeli war has displaced at least 1.9 million people in Gaza and left the entire population of over 2.2 million at risk of famine and disease.

“The footage the world sees on television gives an important peek into the living hell people are enduring for over 10 months. What it does not fully show is how, behind the crumbled buildings, whole neighbourhoods, livelihoods and dreams have been levelled to the ground,” Salim Oweis, a communications officer for another UN agency, Unicef, said last week.

“When you see an image of a displaced mother carrying her child and all their possessions on her back, you do not see hundreds of uprooted people following her up the road,” he continued. “The life of a child in Gaza, in month 10 of this conflict, is not a life. We cannot say it enough. There’s no safe place, and everything is running out – food, water, fuel, medicines. Everything.”