A Palestinian man carries away a girl, that was overcome by emotion, during the funeral of 7-year-old Muhammed Abu Shagfa. Credit:AP “So many kids were playing on the street when I heard a boom – I came running from my house to find some without arms, with their heads separated from their bodies.” Children wander the street in shock and across the road three shoes lie in a thick pool of blood as people stare on wordlessly, mentally counting the lives lost and agonising over who might be saved today. At nearby Shifa Hospital, the now familiar volley of ambulances and private cars carrying the dead and wounded screeched up to the entrance, one father carrying his horrifically injured young daughter in his arms through the crowd of onlookers. When the first gurney carrying two of the youngest victims was wheeled out of the hospital and towards the morgue, the crowd erupted in screams of grief and horror.

Palestinians chant slogans as mourners carry the body of Muhammed Abu Shagfa, 7, killed in an explosion, during the funeral in Shati refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip. Credit:AP Israel denied it was responsible for the strike on Shati Camp, or the rocket that hit the grounds of Shifa Hospital at around the same time, saying a rocket misfired by Palestinian militants in Gaza was to blame. "We have not fired on the hospital or on Shati refugee camp” Major Arye Shalicar of the Israeli Defence Forces told Agence-France Presse. A Palestinian woman chants slogans as mourners carry the body of a 7-year-old killed in the explosion. Credit:AP "We know that Hamas was firing from both areas and the missiles struck these places," he said, noting that 200 missiles fired by Gaza militants had fallen short and landed inside the Gaza Strip.

Hamas was quick to blame Israel for the two attacks, with Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri saying Israel was attempting “to escape from this crime and its fears that this crime will be exposed and [it will] held judicially accountable". Palestinians lower the body of Muhammed Abu Shagfa, 7, killed in an explosion, into his grave during the funeral in Gaza City. Credit:AP "In addition, explosives experts have seized the remains of Israeli rockets that fell in those two places," Mr Abu Zuhri’s statement read. A further five Israeli soldiers were killed in military operations in Gaza, the IDF confirmed, taking the death toll to 48 since Israel launched the ground invasion of Operation Protective Edge on July 18. An additional two Israeli civilians and one Thai agricultural worker have died. At least 1079 Palestinians have been killed in the 21-day military operation and a further 6470 have been injured. Human rights groups and the health ministry in Gaza say around 80 per cent have been civilians, many of them children.

The unofficial truce pushed by the UN for the Eid al-Fitr holiday collapsed, like several other humanitarian ceasefires before it, and sirens again sounded as militants in Gaza fired a series of rockets into southern Israel on Monday afternoon. As night fell in Gaza, the boom of intense shelling and air strikes echoed around the tiny coastal strip and flares lit up the sky, while Israeli drones buzzed overhead. Not long before Israel renewed its military operations, the IDF says it sent text message and made phone calls to residents in Shujaiya, Zeitun and East Jabalya, telling them to evacuate their homes immediately. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency says there are already more than 180,000 Palestinians from around Gaza sheltering in its schools and buildings after they were forced to evacuate to escape Israel’s air, ground and naval operations. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation on Monday night in a televised statement, saying: "We will not end this operation without neutralising the tunnels whose sole purpose is killing our citizens."

"We need to be prepared for a protracted campaign. We will continue to act with force and discretion until our mission is accomplished," he said, vowing that Israeli troops would not leave Gaza until they had destroyed Hamas's tunnel network. Meanwhile the Obama administration hit back against a barrage of Israeli criticism over US Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts to secure a ceasefire, accusing some in Israel of launching a "misinformation campaign" by leaking what the US described as a draft plan. "It's simply not the way partners and allies treat each other," Associated Press reported State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki as saying.