Italy offers to treat boy who survived Israeli strike that killed his nine siblings

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ROME (Reuters) -Italy’s government on Thursday offered to treat a Palestinian child who survived an Israeli military strike in Gaza in which nine of his siblings died, heeding an appeal from the boy’s uncle.

“The Italian Government has expressed its willingness to transfer the seriously injured boy to Italy,” the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that it was studying the feasibility of the operation.

The boy, Adam Al-Najjar, is in serious condition in Nasser Hospital, one of the few medical facilities still operating in southern Gaza, following the May 25 strike on his home in which he lost his siblings.

His parents are both doctors. His father, Hamdi Al-Najjar, was at home with the children and was also seriously hurt. He is being treated in the same hospital as his son, and where his wife Alaa works.

Adam’s uncle, Ali Al-Najjar, told Italy’s la Repubblica newspaper that the 11-year-old boy has burns on his body, head injuries, a broken left hand and is not able to walk, and that the Nasser Hospital is ill-equipped to treat him.

“He needs to be taken away immediately, to a real hospital, outside of the Gaza Strip. I beg the Italian government to do something, take him, Italians save him,” he said.

(Reporting by Enrico Sciacovelli; Editing by Alvise Armellini and Mark Porter)