Israel-Gaza violence: The children who have died in the conflict
Of the 219 people who have been killed in Gaza, at least 63 are children, according to its militant-controlled health ministry. Of the 10 people killed in Israel, two children are among the dead, the country’s medical service says.
When an Israeli strike hit al-Wihda street in central Gaza City early on Sunday, at least 13 members of the extended al-Kawalek family are believed to have been killed, buried in the rubble of their own home. Many of the victims were children, with one said to be as young as six months. “We saw nothing but smoke,” one of the surviving members of the family, Sanaa al-Kawalek, told Felesteen Online. “I couldn’t see my son next to me and I was hugging him, but I could see nothing.” The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described the bombing as “abnormal” and said the civilian casualties were unintended. A spokesman said air strikes had caused a tunnel to collapse, bringing houses down with it. Among those killed were sisters Yara, 9, and Rula, 5. Both had been receiving treatment for trauma from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). The al-Kawaleks were polite girls who always did their homework on time, one of their teachers, who did not want be named, told the BBC. A picture circulating online is said to show 10-year-old Aziz al-Kawalek, the only surviving member of his direct family, sitting by his mother’s body.(BBC)…[+]