10 kids die as missile fired on Gaza crowd
World condemns Israeli raid, death toll rises to 50 in two days
Agencies, Rafah, Gaza Strip
Israeli forces fired a missile and a tank shell yesterday into a large crowd of Palestinians demonstrating against the invasion of a neighboring refugee camp, witnesses said. At least 10 Palestinians were killed, all children and teenagers, a Palestinian health official said.Witnesses saw a missile land in the middle of the crowd of 3,000 demonstrators, and Associated Press Television Network footage showed smoke and debris flying as a large explosion rocked the area. The footage then showed Palestinians carrying the wounded, including children, from the smoky scene. At least 50 people were wounded, 36 critically, Palestinian hospital officials said. The death toll rose to 33 in two days, which is one of the highest in three and a half years of conflict. Israeli media said at least 22 bodies, most of them school children, had been counted after the strike in the Rafah camp, which some witnesses said was carried out by helicopter gunships and others blamed on firing by tanks. People fled screaming, some dragging bloodied comrades and others carrying wounded children in their arms. "It was horrifying," said Mahmoud Abu Hashem, 35. "There was one person with his intestines coming out. Another had blood covering his face and you couldn't even make out his features." Military sources said on condition of anonymity that a helicopter and a tank fired one round each near the crowd after soldiers felt threatened.
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