Palestinian child killed by Israel on first day back at school in Gaza

Palestinian child killed by Israel on first day back at school in Gaza Submitted by MEE staff on Mon, 09/07/2026 - 18:07 Wafaa Akila, aged eight, was photographed smiling in her blue school uniform hours before an Israeli strike killed the little girl and her father Images of eight-year-old Palestinian girl Wafaa Akila are circulating on social media after an Israeli strike killed her alongside her father in Gaza City on Sunday (Social media/X) Off An eight-year-old Palestinian girl, whose age was confirmed by al-Shifa hospital, was killed alongside her father in an Israeli strike on Gaza City on Sunday, hours after she attended the first day of the new school year. Wafaa Yousef Nabil Akila and her father, Youssef Nabil Rabah Akila, were travelling in a vehicle in western Gaza City when an Israeli drone near the Hamid intersection struck the car. The attack also wounded six other Palestinians, according to medical officials at al-Shifa hospital.