The four youngest members of the El Dallo family were the first to arrive at the Shifa hospital morgue. Sara, 7, Jamal, 6, Yusef, 4, and Ibrahim,2, children of rumoured Hamas member Mohamed El Dallo, were laid two abreast on metal trays, swathed in white.
By Phoebe Greenwood, Gaza City9:31PM GMT 18 Nov 2012 THE TELEGRAPH
Everyone inside the home in Nasser St was killed Photo: EPA
Only their small, distorted faces were left exposed to the local camera crews, jostling to capture the latest victims of Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defence on film.
Nine members of the family and two neighbours were inside the family home when the Israeli missile struck, fired from an F16 jet shortly before 3pm. Every one of them was killed, all women and children. Mr Dallo, who was not at home, survived.
As Hamas police struggled to control furious friends and relatives attempting to force their way into the morgue to see the bodies, Palestinian emergency teams were still digging through the rubble of the home on Nasser Street, in central Gaza City. Ten of the family members had already been found but a 20 year-old woman was still missing underneath the dirt and stone of her home.
The devastating strike is the bloodiest single incident of this five-day old war. It was launched as optimistic reports from anonymous Israeli military officials circulated in the local media suggesting that the crisis talks taking place in Cairo may soon produce a ceasefire.
Three more Palestinians were killed in strikes late Sunday evening, bringing the day’s toll to 29, the deadliest day so far of Israel’s campaign against the Gaza Strip.
TOTAL LATEST CASUALTY FIGURES ARE 95 PALESTINIANS DEAD AND 3 ISRAELIS. (unconfirmed)
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