“She was the centre of our life, she was the most precious thing in the world to us, we had waited so long for her. Now we don’t know whether she will wake up again; we don’t know what has happened to her.” Alla al-Masri buried his head in his hands – no longer could he bear to watch his nine-year-old daughter lying on the hospital bed, suffering.

He and his wife, Hanan, had craved a baby and Mariam came after years of IVF treatment. An only child, she was the apple of her grandparents’ eyes and they had been constantly cautioning her that she should not stray far from home in these dangerous times.

“Our little girl was playing in our garden when it happened. The Israelis bombed a house across the street: the blast came straight through our house – then I saw my daughter lying in blood,” said Mr Masri. “She was injured badly in the head, so we fear very much.”

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Mariam is one among the extraordinarily large number of children who have been victims since Benjamin Netanyahu’s government launched Operation Protective Edge: 22 are among the 103 dead, and no less than 70 per cent of the 700 injured comprise boys and girls, or women, according to Palestinian medical authorities.

Ashraf al-Qadri, information director at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City warned of a “catastrophic effect” on young lives if the spiral of violence continues. There is no obvious explanation for this trend in child casualties.

Many residents, however, maintain that missiles and bombs aimed at the homes of militants considered legitimate targets by the Israelis have also hit neighbouring family homes. This claim would run counter to repeated insistence by the Israeli authorities that the air strikes are being carried out with surgical precision to avoid collateral damage.

Israeli military sources hold that warnings given to evacuate certain buildings have been followed by people gathering there as “human shields”. Yigal Palmor, spokesman for the foreign ministry, charged Hamas with launching rockets from “within homes and streets and neighbourhoods which are populated with civilians, exposing these civilians to retaliation and to backfire”.

Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: Israel launches further air strikes on Gaza Show all 105 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: Israel launches further air strikes on Gaza 1/105 Israeli border with Gaza Israeli soldiers rest next to artillery shells from an artillery unit near the Israeli border with Gaza 2/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border Palestinian mourners pray in a mosque during the funeral for those killed in a three-storey house belonging to the Abu Jamaa family the day before, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip 3/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border Palestinian mourners pray over five bodies, all from the Halaq family, during their funeral in the Jabalia refugee camp, in the Gaza Strip MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/Getty Images 4/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border The aunt of Palestinian boy Mohammed Ayad, who medics said was killed during heavy Israeli shelling, mourns as she looks at his body during his funeral in Gaza City 5/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border Two Palestinian men flee their homes during a temporary ceasefire in the heavily-hit Shuja’iya neighbourhood in Gaza City EPA 6/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border Palestinian women react next to the rubble of their relatives' house, which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip 7/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border Palestinians gather as a bulldozer searches for victims amongst the rubble of a house, which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip 8/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border Palestinians paramedics lift the body of a man from the Al Shejaeiya neighbourhood, during a brief period of ceasefire requested by local rescue forces to retrieve dead and wounded from the Shuja'iyya neighbourhood in east Gaza City 9/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border An Israeli soldier gestures on a Merkava tank, as part of the Israeli army deployment near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip 10/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border Palestinian Beisan Dhahir (7) sleeps at Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Beisan's home was shelled and collapsed by Israel's military operation in Shijaiyah in the Gaza Strip. She survived the ordeal with her aunt and uncle. Beisan's mother, father, brother, sister and baby sister all died in the attack 11/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border A picture taken from Israel at the southern border with the Gaza strip shows smoke billowing from behind a hill following an Israeli air strike on Gaza City 12/105 Palestinians clashes with Israeli Palestinians clashes with Israeli troops following the protest against the Israeli operations in Gaza at the al-Jalazone Camp in Ramallah, West Bank 13/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border An Israeli soldier sleeps on a tank near the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip. Israeli strikes killed at least 20 people in Gaza on Saturday 19 July, taking the death toll from a 12-day bombardment to 324 Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images 14/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border Sderot, Israel: Soldiers are seen advancing towards the Israeli-Gaza border during an operation near Sderot, Israel. As operation 'Protective Edge' enters its 12th day, over 300 Gazans have been killed along with three Israeli soldiers Andrew Burton/Getty Images 15/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli-Gaza Border Palestinians walk past a building that was destroyed nearby their house following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip killed 11 people early on 19 July, medics said, on day 12 of a major operation against the Palestinian territory AFP PHOTO/MAHMUD HAMS/Getty Images 16/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian men help a local journalist who got injured during an Israeli airstrike on an office building hosting several media outlets in Gaza City 17/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians help an injured colleague to leave a building hit by an Israeli air strike on Gaza City 18/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians leave their neighborhood to a safer location after Israel's army stared its ground offensive in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip 19/105 Israeli Gaza border Israeli soldiers seen along the border with Gaza before the attack Getty Images 20/105 Southern Gaza Strip An Israeli missile strikes in Gaza City Getty Images 21/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians run for shelter as they hear bombing in the distance while they flee their homes in the Shajaiyeh neighborhood of Gaza City, after Israel had airdropped leaflets warning people to leave the area 22/105 Southern Gaza Strip Relatives of 4 Palestinian children killed in Israeli airstrike while they were playing on the beach, mourn in Gaza City 23/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man cries as he holds the dead body of his young brother shortly after he got killed by an Israeli naval bombardment in the port of Gaza City in the morgue of the Shifa hospital in Gaza 24/105 Southern Gaza Strip Young relatives of four boys, all from the Bakr family, killed during Israeli shelling, cry during their funeral in Gaza City AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED ABEDMOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images 25/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian employees of Gaza City's al-Deira hotel carry a wounded boy following an Israeli military strike nearby on the beach THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images 26/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man reads a leaflet dropped by Israeli Defense Forces over the Shuja'iyya neighbourhood in east Gaza. The paper says residents of the area are supposed to leave the area immediately and seek shelter in the center of Gaza City before the Israeli airforce will commence airstrikes. According to Israeli sources 100,000 people were notified to flee, only a few did 27/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian children run to collect leaflets dropped by Israeli Defense Forces over the Shuja'iyya neighbourhood in east Gaza City 28/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians salvage what they can of their belongings from the rubble of their destroyed house following an early morning Israeli missile strike in Gaza City 29/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man looks at a house destroyed by Israeli Defense Forces during an overnight air strike in Gaza City 30/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man stands amidst the debris of the house of senior Hamas official Mahmud al-Zahar which was destroyed by Israeli Defense Forces in an air strike in Gaza City 31/105 Israeli Gaza border Palestinians search a destroyed house following an Israeli missile strike in Rafah 32/105 Israeli Gaza border A man walks near the Israeli Gaza border 33/105 Southern Gaza Strip Smoke rises from a Palestinian house during an attack by Israeli missiles in Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip. Israel bombed 40 more targets in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian militants launched at least 20 rockets across the border, despite a call by UN Secretary-General for a truce. The death toll rose to over 170 on the seventh day of the Israeli offensive, with more than 1,200 wounded, a Gaza Health Ministry spokesman said 34/105 Israeli Gaza border A photo taken from the southern Israeli Gaza border shows Israeli army flares falling into the Palestinian enclave. Israel's security cabinet was to meet early on July 15 to discuss Egyptian proposals for a truce in Gaza, a senior official said, as an aerial campaign against Hamas entered its eighth day 35/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian elderly walks past a destroyed house in the north of Beit Lahiya town in the northern Gaza Strip 36/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian baby Abdullah Abu Halib, wounded during an Israeli airstrike, is treated at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis 37/105 Southern Gaza Strip The funeral ceremony of three members of El-Muammer family, killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, is held in Khan Yunis 38/105 Southern Gaza Strip Relatives carry the body of 3-year-old Palestinian boy Moayad al-Araj, who hospital officials said were killed in an Israeli air strike, during his funeral in Khan Younis 39/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian relatives mourn during the funeral of four members of the Moamer family, including a 26-year-old militant of the Hamas movement, during their funeral in southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah 40/105 Southern Gaza Strip A young Palestinian boy walks over debris from a house that was destroyed in an airstrike in Deir Al Balah 41/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian boys inspect the damage in a mosque that was destroyed overnight by an Israeli airstrike in Deir Al Balah 42/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian firefighters extinguish a fire that broke out after an Israeli air strike hit a car in Gaza City 43/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians gather around a firing car following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City 44/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man walks next to a destroyed house following Israeli missile strike in Gaza City 45/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians gather around the remains of a house, which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Rafah 46/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians carry the body of three-year-old Mohammed Mnassrah who was killed along with his parents and brother in an airstrike, during his funeral in Al Maghazi refugee camp in the eastern Gaza Strip 47/105 Southern Gaza Strip Relatives and friends of al-Hajj family mourn as they gather in a mosque to pray over the bodies of the eight family members during their funeral in Khan Yunis 48/105 Israel A smoke and fire billowing from an Israeli gas station after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Palestinian Gaza Strip 49/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian firefighter hoses a boat hit in an missile strike at the port in Gaza City 50/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian firefighter hoses a boat damaged by an missile strike at the port in Gaza City 51/105 Southern Gaza Strip The destroyed house of the Palestinian Abu Lealla family following an Israeli airstrike north of Gaza City 52/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians inspect the rubble of a house after it was hit by an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City 53/105 Israel Israeli fire-fighters extinguish a fire that broke out after a rocket hit a petrol station in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod 54/105 Israel Israeli fire fighters extinguish vehicles destroyed by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip that hit a gas station in the city of Ashdod 55/105 Israel Israeli fire fighters extinguish vehicles destroyed by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in the city of Ashdod 56/105 Israel Israeli firefighters try to extinguish the fire from several cars that were damaged by a missile fired from the Gaza Strip that hit a gas station in the southern city of Ashdod 57/105 Israel Firefighters try to douse a fire from a rocket that hit a Petrol station in Ashdod 58/105 Southern Gaza Strip A ball of fire is seen following an air strike on Rafah in the southern of Gaza strip 59/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian firefighters extinguish fire from a building following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City 60/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man walks on the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City 61/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians carry bodies of seven people killed in a strike during their funeral in Khan Younis refugee camp 62/105 Southern Gaza Strip Israel launched the military operation 'Protective Edge', which came in response to a renewed wave of rockets out of the Gaza Strip, for some of which Palestinian group Hamas has claimed responsibility. There have been more than 120 Israeli airstrikes in the coastal enclave, according to Palestinian sources, while hundreds of rockets and mortar shells have landed in southern Israel. Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner said the offensive, named Protective Edge, could grow into a 'ground mission if required' 63/105 Southern Gaza Strip Flames engulf a building hit by an Israeli air strike 64/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians inspect damages following an Israeli air strike 65/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian rescuers check a car hit by an Israeli air strike killing the driver in Gaza City 66/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian woman runs carrying a girl following what police said was an Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza city 67/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians sitting on a street react after a deadly Israeli air strike that targeted their house in the town of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip 68/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian relatives mourn during the funeral of members of Hamad family in the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip 69/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man carries his wounded daughter into the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City following an Israeli air strike 70/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians stand on the edge of a crater as others look for people under the rubble of a house that was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City 71/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian removes rubble near a damaged building belonging to a senior Hamas official following an Israeli missile strike in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip 72/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians collect their belongings from the rubble of their house which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Rafah 73/105 Southern Gaza Strip Beit Hanoun, a city on the northeast edge of the Gaza Strip, hit by Israeli airstrike, West Bank 74/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man removes blooded cushions from an outdoors sitting area following an Israeli air strike in Beit Hanun 75/105 Southern Gaza Strip Relatives and friends of the al-Kaware family carry one of the 7 members of the family to the mosque during their funeral in Khan Yunis 76/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian boy who was injured in an Israeli airstrike, sits next to his mother after receiving treatment at a hospital in Khan Younis 77/105 Southern Gaza Strip A picture taken from the southern Israeli border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing after an Israeli air strike in the Palestinian coastal enclave 78/105 Southern Gaza Strip Wounded Palestinians are taken to hospitals after Israel airstrikes targeted different points of Gaza city 79/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian boy cries as he receives treatment at a hospital after he was injured in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis 80/105 Southern Gaza Strip Two Palestinian girls inspect the ruble of a destroyed house following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah refugee camp 81/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian woman makes her way through debris as people inspect the remains of a house belonging to a member of the Islamist Hamas movement following an Israeli air strike in the Gaza strip town of Khan Yunis 82/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man searches for belongings under the rubble of a house which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City 83/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian men carry a pumpkin and watermelon as they walk across the rubble 84/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians stand atop the rubble of a house which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike 85/105 Southern Gaza Strip Smoke rises after an attack of Israeli aircraft in the South of Gaza City 86/105 Southern Gaza Strip The father of killed Hamas militant Rashad Yassin (28) arrives at the morgue of the al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza strip 87/105 Southern Gaza Strip Smoke and flames are seen following what police said was an Israeli air strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip 88/105 Southern Gaza Strip Fire fighters extinguish a vehicle targeted in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City 89/105 Southern Gaza Strip Wounded people are taken to the hospital in Gaza city 90/105 Southern Gaza Strip A smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in the Palestinian coastal enclave 91/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian girls in the rubble of the destroyed home of the Al Abadlla family following an Israeli airstrike in Khanyounis, southern Gaza Strip 92/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians inspect the rubble of a house after it was hit by an Israeli missile strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip 93/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians inspect destroyed area as smoke rises from the ruins in Khan Yunis after the Israeli airstrikes aiming Gaza 94/105 Israel The Iron Dome air-defense system fires to intercept a rocket over the city of Ashdod. Due to recent escalation in the region, the Israeli army started new deployments at the border with the Gaza Strip 95/105 Israel An Israeli soldier performs a morning prayer in an army deployment area near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip 96/105 Southern Gaza Strip A woman stands inside her destroyed house in Khan Yunis 97/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians inspect destroyed area in Khan Yunis after the Israeli airstrikes aiming Gaza 98/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian men carry an injured person into Gaza City's al-Shifa hospital following an Israeli air strike 99/105 Southern Gaza Strip Smoke rises following what witnesses said was an Israeli air strike in Gaza City 100/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians collect their belongings from damaged houses after an Israeli missile strike hit Gaza City 101/105 Southern Gaza Strip The Israeli air force launched dozens of raids on the Gaza Strip after massive rocket fire from the enclave pounded southern Israel, leaving many people injured 102/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian girl stands in a destroyed building following an Israeli military strike in Gaza City 103/105 Southern Gaza Strip A destroyed building in seen following an Israeli military strike in in Khan Yunis, in the soutehrn Gaza Strip 104/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians march during funeral of Palestinian Marwan Sleem in the central Gaza Strip 105/105 Southern Gaza Strip Israeli soldiers ride atop a tank outside the southern Gaza Strip. Israel launched a series of air strikes on Gaza to quell Hamas rocket fire, and the Islamist group's armed wing said seven of its gunmen were killed, making it the deadliest day for Hamas since a 2012 cross-border war with the Jewish state 1/105 Israeli border with Gaza Israeli soldiers rest next to artillery shells from an artillery unit near the Israeli border with Gaza 2/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border Palestinian mourners pray in a mosque during the funeral for those killed in a three-storey house belonging to the Abu Jamaa family the day before, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip 3/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border Palestinian mourners pray over five bodies, all from the Halaq family, during their funeral in the Jabalia refugee camp, in the Gaza Strip MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/Getty Images 4/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border The aunt of Palestinian boy Mohammed Ayad, who medics said was killed during heavy Israeli shelling, mourns as she looks at his body during his funeral in Gaza City 5/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border Two Palestinian men flee their homes during a temporary ceasefire in the heavily-hit Shuja’iya neighbourhood in Gaza City EPA 6/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border Palestinian women react next to the rubble of their relatives' house, which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip 7/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border Palestinians gather as a bulldozer searches for victims amongst the rubble of a house, which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip 8/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border Palestinians paramedics lift the body of a man from the Al Shejaeiya neighbourhood, during a brief period of ceasefire requested by local rescue forces to retrieve dead and wounded from the Shuja'iyya neighbourhood in east Gaza City 9/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border An Israeli soldier gestures on a Merkava tank, as part of the Israeli army deployment near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip 10/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border Palestinian Beisan Dhahir (7) sleeps at Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Beisan's home was shelled and collapsed by Israel's military operation in Shijaiyah in the Gaza Strip. She survived the ordeal with her aunt and uncle. Beisan's mother, father, brother, sister and baby sister all died in the attack 11/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border A picture taken from Israel at the southern border with the Gaza strip shows smoke billowing from behind a hill following an Israeli air strike on Gaza City 12/105 Palestinians clashes with Israeli Palestinians clashes with Israeli troops following the protest against the Israeli operations in Gaza at the al-Jalazone Camp in Ramallah, West Bank 13/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border An Israeli soldier sleeps on a tank near the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip. Israeli strikes killed at least 20 people in Gaza on Saturday 19 July, taking the death toll from a 12-day bombardment to 324 Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images 14/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border Sderot, Israel: Soldiers are seen advancing towards the Israeli-Gaza border during an operation near Sderot, Israel. As operation 'Protective Edge' enters its 12th day, over 300 Gazans have been killed along with three Israeli soldiers Andrew Burton/Getty Images 15/105 Tensions Remain High At Israeli-Gaza Border Palestinians walk past a building that was destroyed nearby their house following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip killed 11 people early on 19 July, medics said, on day 12 of a major operation against the Palestinian territory AFP PHOTO/MAHMUD HAMS/Getty Images 16/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian men help a local journalist who got injured during an Israeli airstrike on an office building hosting several media outlets in Gaza City 17/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians help an injured colleague to leave a building hit by an Israeli air strike on Gaza City 18/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians leave their neighborhood to a safer location after Israel's army stared its ground offensive in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip 19/105 Israeli Gaza border Israeli soldiers seen along the border with Gaza before the attack Getty Images 20/105 Southern Gaza Strip An Israeli missile strikes in Gaza City Getty Images 21/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians run for shelter as they hear bombing in the distance while they flee their homes in the Shajaiyeh neighborhood of Gaza City, after Israel had airdropped leaflets warning people to leave the area 22/105 Southern Gaza Strip Relatives of 4 Palestinian children killed in Israeli airstrike while they were playing on the beach, mourn in Gaza City 23/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man cries as he holds the dead body of his young brother shortly after he got killed by an Israeli naval bombardment in the port of Gaza City in the morgue of the Shifa hospital in Gaza 24/105 Southern Gaza Strip Young relatives of four boys, all from the Bakr family, killed during Israeli shelling, cry during their funeral in Gaza City AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED ABEDMOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images 25/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian employees of Gaza City's al-Deira hotel carry a wounded boy following an Israeli military strike nearby on the beach THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images 26/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man reads a leaflet dropped by Israeli Defense Forces over the Shuja'iyya neighbourhood in east Gaza. The paper says residents of the area are supposed to leave the area immediately and seek shelter in the center of Gaza City before the Israeli airforce will commence airstrikes. According to Israeli sources 100,000 people were notified to flee, only a few did 27/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian children run to collect leaflets dropped by Israeli Defense Forces over the Shuja'iyya neighbourhood in east Gaza City 28/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians salvage what they can of their belongings from the rubble of their destroyed house following an early morning Israeli missile strike in Gaza City 29/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man looks at a house destroyed by Israeli Defense Forces during an overnight air strike in Gaza City 30/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man stands amidst the debris of the house of senior Hamas official Mahmud al-Zahar which was destroyed by Israeli Defense Forces in an air strike in Gaza City 31/105 Israeli Gaza border Palestinians search a destroyed house following an Israeli missile strike in Rafah 32/105 Israeli Gaza border A man walks near the Israeli Gaza border 33/105 Southern Gaza Strip Smoke rises from a Palestinian house during an attack by Israeli missiles in Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip. Israel bombed 40 more targets in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian militants launched at least 20 rockets across the border, despite a call by UN Secretary-General for a truce. The death toll rose to over 170 on the seventh day of the Israeli offensive, with more than 1,200 wounded, a Gaza Health Ministry spokesman said 34/105 Israeli Gaza border A photo taken from the southern Israeli Gaza border shows Israeli army flares falling into the Palestinian enclave. Israel's security cabinet was to meet early on July 15 to discuss Egyptian proposals for a truce in Gaza, a senior official said, as an aerial campaign against Hamas entered its eighth day 35/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian elderly walks past a destroyed house in the north of Beit Lahiya town in the northern Gaza Strip 36/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian baby Abdullah Abu Halib, wounded during an Israeli airstrike, is treated at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis 37/105 Southern Gaza Strip The funeral ceremony of three members of El-Muammer family, killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, is held in Khan Yunis 38/105 Southern Gaza Strip Relatives carry the body of 3-year-old Palestinian boy Moayad al-Araj, who hospital officials said were killed in an Israeli air strike, during his funeral in Khan Younis 39/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian relatives mourn during the funeral of four members of the Moamer family, including a 26-year-old militant of the Hamas movement, during their funeral in southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah 40/105 Southern Gaza Strip A young Palestinian boy walks over debris from a house that was destroyed in an airstrike in Deir Al Balah 41/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian boys inspect the damage in a mosque that was destroyed overnight by an Israeli airstrike in Deir Al Balah 42/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian firefighters extinguish a fire that broke out after an Israeli air strike hit a car in Gaza City 43/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians gather around a firing car following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City 44/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man walks next to a destroyed house following Israeli missile strike in Gaza City 45/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians gather around the remains of a house, which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Rafah 46/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians carry the body of three-year-old Mohammed Mnassrah who was killed along with his parents and brother in an airstrike, during his funeral in Al Maghazi refugee camp in the eastern Gaza Strip 47/105 Southern Gaza Strip Relatives and friends of al-Hajj family mourn as they gather in a mosque to pray over the bodies of the eight family members during their funeral in Khan Yunis 48/105 Israel A smoke and fire billowing from an Israeli gas station after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Palestinian Gaza Strip 49/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian firefighter hoses a boat hit in an missile strike at the port in Gaza City 50/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian firefighter hoses a boat damaged by an missile strike at the port in Gaza City 51/105 Southern Gaza Strip The destroyed house of the Palestinian Abu Lealla family following an Israeli airstrike north of Gaza City 52/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians inspect the rubble of a house after it was hit by an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City 53/105 Israel Israeli fire-fighters extinguish a fire that broke out after a rocket hit a petrol station in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod 54/105 Israel Israeli fire fighters extinguish vehicles destroyed by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip that hit a gas station in the city of Ashdod 55/105 Israel Israeli fire fighters extinguish vehicles destroyed by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in the city of Ashdod 56/105 Israel Israeli firefighters try to extinguish the fire from several cars that were damaged by a missile fired from the Gaza Strip that hit a gas station in the southern city of Ashdod 57/105 Israel Firefighters try to douse a fire from a rocket that hit a Petrol station in Ashdod 58/105 Southern Gaza Strip A ball of fire is seen following an air strike on Rafah in the southern of Gaza strip 59/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian firefighters extinguish fire from a building following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City 60/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man walks on the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City 61/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians carry bodies of seven people killed in a strike during their funeral in Khan Younis refugee camp 62/105 Southern Gaza Strip Israel launched the military operation 'Protective Edge', which came in response to a renewed wave of rockets out of the Gaza Strip, for some of which Palestinian group Hamas has claimed responsibility. There have been more than 120 Israeli airstrikes in the coastal enclave, according to Palestinian sources, while hundreds of rockets and mortar shells have landed in southern Israel. Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner said the offensive, named Protective Edge, could grow into a 'ground mission if required' 63/105 Southern Gaza Strip Flames engulf a building hit by an Israeli air strike 64/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians inspect damages following an Israeli air strike 65/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian rescuers check a car hit by an Israeli air strike killing the driver in Gaza City 66/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian woman runs carrying a girl following what police said was an Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza city 67/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians sitting on a street react after a deadly Israeli air strike that targeted their house in the town of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip 68/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian relatives mourn during the funeral of members of Hamad family in the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip 69/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man carries his wounded daughter into the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City following an Israeli air strike 70/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians stand on the edge of a crater as others look for people under the rubble of a house that was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City 71/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian removes rubble near a damaged building belonging to a senior Hamas official following an Israeli missile strike in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip 72/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians collect their belongings from the rubble of their house which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Rafah 73/105 Southern Gaza Strip Beit Hanoun, a city on the northeast edge of the Gaza Strip, hit by Israeli airstrike, West Bank 74/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man removes blooded cushions from an outdoors sitting area following an Israeli air strike in Beit Hanun 75/105 Southern Gaza Strip Relatives and friends of the al-Kaware family carry one of the 7 members of the family to the mosque during their funeral in Khan Yunis 76/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian boy who was injured in an Israeli airstrike, sits next to his mother after receiving treatment at a hospital in Khan Younis 77/105 Southern Gaza Strip A picture taken from the southern Israeli border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing after an Israeli air strike in the Palestinian coastal enclave 78/105 Southern Gaza Strip Wounded Palestinians are taken to hospitals after Israel airstrikes targeted different points of Gaza city 79/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian boy cries as he receives treatment at a hospital after he was injured in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis 80/105 Southern Gaza Strip Two Palestinian girls inspect the ruble of a destroyed house following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah refugee camp 81/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian woman makes her way through debris as people inspect the remains of a house belonging to a member of the Islamist Hamas movement following an Israeli air strike in the Gaza strip town of Khan Yunis 82/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man searches for belongings under the rubble of a house which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City 83/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian men carry a pumpkin and watermelon as they walk across the rubble 84/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians stand atop the rubble of a house which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike 85/105 Southern Gaza Strip Smoke rises after an attack of Israeli aircraft in the South of Gaza City 86/105 Southern Gaza Strip The father of killed Hamas militant Rashad Yassin (28) arrives at the morgue of the al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza strip 87/105 Southern Gaza Strip Smoke and flames are seen following what police said was an Israeli air strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip 88/105 Southern Gaza Strip Fire fighters extinguish a vehicle targeted in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City 89/105 Southern Gaza Strip Wounded people are taken to the hospital in Gaza city 90/105 Southern Gaza Strip A smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in the Palestinian coastal enclave 91/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian girls in the rubble of the destroyed home of the Al Abadlla family following an Israeli airstrike in Khanyounis, southern Gaza Strip 92/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians inspect the rubble of a house after it was hit by an Israeli missile strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip 93/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians inspect destroyed area as smoke rises from the ruins in Khan Yunis after the Israeli airstrikes aiming Gaza 94/105 Israel The Iron Dome air-defense system fires to intercept a rocket over the city of Ashdod. Due to recent escalation in the region, the Israeli army started new deployments at the border with the Gaza Strip 95/105 Israel An Israeli soldier performs a morning prayer in an army deployment area near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip 96/105 Southern Gaza Strip A woman stands inside her destroyed house in Khan Yunis 97/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians inspect destroyed area in Khan Yunis after the Israeli airstrikes aiming Gaza 98/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian men carry an injured person into Gaza City's al-Shifa hospital following an Israeli air strike 99/105 Southern Gaza Strip Smoke rises following what witnesses said was an Israeli air strike in Gaza City 100/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians collect their belongings from damaged houses after an Israeli missile strike hit Gaza City 101/105 Southern Gaza Strip The Israeli air force launched dozens of raids on the Gaza Strip after massive rocket fire from the enclave pounded southern Israel, leaving many people injured 102/105 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian girl stands in a destroyed building following an Israeli military strike in Gaza City 103/105 Southern Gaza Strip A destroyed building in seen following an Israeli military strike in in Khan Yunis, in the soutehrn Gaza Strip 104/105 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians march during funeral of Palestinian Marwan Sleem in the central Gaza Strip 105/105 Southern Gaza Strip Israeli soldiers ride atop a tank outside the southern Gaza Strip. Israel launched a series of air strikes on Gaza to quell Hamas rocket fire, and the Islamist group's armed wing said seven of its gunmen were killed, making it the deadliest day for Hamas since a 2012 cross-border war with the Jewish state

Dr Nabil Sharqawi had been treating many of the child patients at al-Shifa Hospital. “They are difficult to cope with emotionally. We are medics, but we are also only human, and to see severe trauma on children is very distressing. Mariam has suffered brain damage. We first have to hope that she lives, then we will see whether she can speak again, walk again, or see again. Unfortunately, we’ll have more cases like this coming in.”

As he spoke, there were loud explosions of ordnance landing not far away and, a little later, the whooshing noise of rockets being launched into Israel.

Dr Sharqawi showed the photograph of a young boy with terrible wounds. “I keep thinking about him. He was brought in yesterday, 10 years old. He had lost both his arms and a leg. But he was fully conscious, he said to me: ‘Please doctor stop this pain.’ But there was very little we could do: he died soon afterwards.”

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Gaza City is a relatively small place and the ripples from the human damage had spread through the community. Yasmeen Dawass, a 22-year-old medical student working as The Independent’s translator had been worried about a fellow student who was travelling on his motorbike on Thursday when he was hit in an air strike.

Ms Dawass did not know what had happened to Musab Dahir; she came across him on the bed next to Mariam, both his legs had been amputated and part of his right arm had gone.

“He was just an ordinary guy, not involved in firing rockets or anything like that. He was just riding along the street; why did they do this? He was going to be a doctor, he was going to help people”, she said.

In a nearby ward lay two young victims, cousins, both aged five. Nuraddin had suffered head injuries. He lost his parents when missiles slammed into his home. Kinan had been hit on the chest and leg by shrapnel; his father and sister died in the same attack.

The house, in Beit Hanoun district, was deliberately targeted from the air, by a drone. It had belonged to Hafez Hamad, who was accused by Israel of belonging to the group Islamic Jihad. Killed with him were six other members of his family including his wife, mother, two brothers and a niece aged 21.

Sitting beside the cousins, their 55-year-old aunt Amal said: “Nuraddin has been unconscious. Kinan knows about his father and sister – he asks about them, but he does not say anything at all about the attack.

“I don’t know what effect it will have on them when they grow up. Will they hate the Israelis and want revenge, or will they keep it away from their minds and forget about it? I personally wish they would forget about it. So many of us want this cycle to stop; we want peace, we are all very tired of war.”

But there was little taste for reconciliation in the family home where shattered glass and debris from the blast lay on the floor with family and friends gathered. With her arm around Adem, her four-year-old grandson, Hafeth Hamad exclaimed: “Of course we need to fight back. The Israelis are threatening to send in troops – let them do so, then they will see how our men, and, yes, our women will fight. Why should we let them just carry on making orphans over here.

"They come every two years and kill more, they want to exterminate the Palestinians and the world just lets them do that. No one is helping us.”

The feeling of abandonment is a pervasive one in Gaza. Dr Qadri at al-Shifa Hospital acknowledged that medical supplies available at Ramallah, the Palestinian administrative capital in the West Bank, have failed to arrive. Hamas and Fatah, which controls the West Bank, are supposed to be in a government of national unity, but there have been signs of cracks in the recently formed alliance.

“We are looking beyond Ramallah for help; we have asked lots of international organisations urgently for aid, but all we have got so far have been promises,” he said. “We are running short of medicine, of equipment. Half the ambulances can’t run because of lack of fuel.”

One of the ambulances pulled up outside the accident and emergency department. Another casualty of the conflict, with chest wounds, was carried out, Mohammed Abdulrahman Hatem. Eleven years old.