(AP) — 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.
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