Boy who lost nine siblings in Israeli attack arrives in Italy for treatment

Rome: An 11-year-old Palestinian boy who was severely wounded in an Israeli air strike which killed his father and his nine siblings has arrived in Italy for medical treatment.

Adam al-Najjar arrived with his mother at Milan’s Linate airport on Wednesday, where he was greeted by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who gave him a football. He was then transferred to the city’s Niguarda Hospital for treatment of his injuries.

Adam is the only one of 10 children in his family to survive an Israeli strike on their home in the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on May 23. His siblings ranged in age from seven months to 12 years old.

Adam’s father, doctor Hamdi al-Najjar, also died of his injuries in the days following the attack. His mother, paediatrician Alaa al-Najjar, had been working at the time of the strike at Nasser Hospital, one of the few still operating in southern Gaza.

Adam sustained serious burns to his body in the strike. His mother, who travelled to Milan for her son’s treatment along with Adam’s aunt and cousins, said her son was stable but would be treated for injuries, including multiple fractures to his arm.

He “has a head wound that is healing but his left arm is bad, the bones are fractured and the nerves damaged,” the 36-year-old told Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

She said she focused on his recovery so as not to think of the horrors of the loss of her family.

“I remember everything. Every detail, every minute, every scream,” she told the newspaper.

“But when I remember, it’s too painful, so I try to keep my mind focused entirely on Adam.”