One in five of Gaza dead are children
26 July Japan news
Sobbing and shaking, Ismail Abu Musallam leaned against the wall of a
hospital Friday, waiting for three of his children to be prepared for
burial.
They were killed as they slept when an Israeli tank shell hit their
home, burying 11-year-old Ahmed, 14-year-old Walaa and 16-year-old
Mohammed under debris in their beds.
His personal tragedy is not unique: the U.N. says minors make up
one-fifth of the 299 Palestinians killed in 11 days of intense Israeli
bombardment of the densely populated Gaza Strip, where half the 1.7
million people are under age 18.
The Israeli military says it’s doing its utmost to spare civilians by
urging residents to leave areas that are about to be shelled or bombed
as Hamas targets. It accuses the Islamic militants of using civilians as
human shields by firing rockets from civilian areas.
But even if urged to evacuate, most Gazans have no safe place to go,
rights activists say.“If you are going to attack civilian structures in
densely populated areas, of course you are going to see children
killed,” said Bill Van Esveld, a researcher for New York-based Human
Rights Watch.Seventy-one of those killed since fighting began on July 8
were under 18, according to an Associated Press count based on
information provided by Palestinian health official Ashraf al-Kidra.
Forty-eight of the victims were under the age of 13.Many of the children
were killed in their own homes.
Early Friday, a 5-month-old baby boy was hit by shrapnel from a
missile strike near his family compound in the southern town of Rafah.
A day earlier, two brothers and a cousin were killed by shrapnel
while feeding pigeons on the roof of their home.One deadly incident drew
particular outrage. Four cousins, aged 9 to 11, had been playing on the
beach near Gaza City’s harbor on Wednesday when a missile fired from an
Israeli gunboat hit a nearby shack.
The boys fled, but were killed in a second missile strike.The images
of small, bloodied bodies lying face down in the sand triggered harsh
international criticism, including from U.N. chief Ban Ki Moon, who said
Israel must “do far more to stop civilian casualties.”
The Israeli military said Hamas operatives were the target, and
promised to investigate.Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman,
said Friday that “Israel’s efforts to try to minimize civilian
casualties are unprecedented in the Western world,” referring to its
system of delivering evacuation warnings through text messages,
automated calls and leaflets dropped from planes.
He said more than a dozen attacks were aborted when civilians were
spotted in the area.
“Unfortunately, the Hamas infrastructure placed itself intentionally
between the civilian population,” he said.In recent days, Israel
repeatedly urged people living near the border with Israel to leave
their homes.
As it later turned out, this was in part in preparation for the
ground offensive Israel launched late Thursday, sending in thousands of
troops.Border areas, including the northern town of Beit Lahiya, came
under heavy shelling attack. Across Gaza, the heavy thuds of tank fire
could be heard through the night from Thursday to Friday, often just
seconds apart.Like many in Beit Lahiya, Abu Musallam decided to remain
in his apartment with his wife and seven children even as their
neighborhood came under intense artillery fire.
Eventually, the children went to sleep. The oldest, Mohammed, was in
one room, and little Ahmed and his sister Walaa in another, the
40-year-old carpenter said.
At some point in the night, a tank shell hit the apartment, burying
the three children under debris. Abu Musallam said he had to call for
help to pull them from the wreckage.
They were taken to a local hospital where each was wrapped in a white
shroud and placed in the morgue’s refrigerator. Ahmed’s face was
blackened from soot.
Surrounded at the hospital by a throng of relatives and his
15-year-old son Omar, the bereaved father fought back tears Friday, as
he spoke about his children. He said Mohammed had worked with him in his
carpentry workshop and that Ahmed was a kind boy.
The sadness then turned to anger.“We are with the resistance,” he
said, referring to Hamas militants who helped provoke the Israeli
assault by firing more than 1,500 rockets at Israel in close to two
weeks. “Three children died and I can offer another three just to give
Palestine its freedom.” |