Heartbroken Father Mourns Loss of Newborn Twins and Wife in Gaza Airstrike

Mohammed Abu al-Qumsan’s world was shattered in an instant when he received the devastating news that his home in Gaza had been bombed, killing his newborn twins and their mother. Moments earlier, he had collected the birth certificates for his three-day-old babies, Aser and Aysal, unaware that he would soon be holding their death certificates instead.

Abu al-Qumsan, who had left his wife Jumana, their infants, and his mother-in-law in their fifth-floor apartment in Deir al-Balah, was at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital when the airstrike occurred. A phone call informed him of the tragic news, leaving him in utter disbelief as he rushed to the hospital’s morgue where his family now lay.

Footage of the distraught father, clutching the birth certificates while collapsing in grief, has spread widely on social media, capturing the heartbreaking human cost of the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Jumana, a pharmacist, had endured a traumatic pregnancy amidst the relentless bombardments, fleeing from place to place in search of safety. Despite her hardships, she remained dedicated to helping others, volunteering in hospitals until the seventh month of her pregnancy.

Since the start of the war, Abu al-Qumsan had lived in constant fear for his family’s safety. “We lost friends, family, and people who were very dear to us,” he said, describing the overwhelming pain and terror they experienced.

The Israeli military, when asked about the airstrike, stated that the details of the incident were not known to the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) at the time.

As he folded unused baby clothes outside a tent in the Al-Mawasi coastal area, now a humanitarian zone, Abu al-Qumsan expressed his profound grief. “I want to know why she was killed in this way. I want to know why she was targeted. In the house, in a safe area,” he questioned, highlighting the senselessness of the attack on innocent civilians.