BEIT LAHIYA, gaza strip — Sobbing and shaking, Ismail Abu Musallam leaned against the hospital wall 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 United Nations says minors make up more than one-fifth of the 299 Palestinians killed in 11 days of Israeli bombardment of the densely populated Gaza Strip, where half of the 1.7 million people are under age 18.
The Israeli military said it is 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 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 July 8 have been younger than 18, according to an Associated Press count based on information provided by Palestinian health official Ashraf al-Kidra. Forty-eight of the victims have been under the age of 13. Many of the children have been killed in their homes.
Early Friday, a 5-month-old 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, ages 9 to 11, had been playing on the beach near Gaza City’s harbor 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.
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.
“We are with the resistance,” he said, referring to Hamas militants who helped provoke the Israeli assault. “Three children died, and I can offer another three just to give Palestine its freedom.”
