Friday, Khan Yunis. Nine small bodies are pulled out after an Israeli attack. Yahya, Rakan, Raslan, Gebran, Eve, Rival, Sayden, Luqman, and Sidra.
Of the ten al-Najjar siblings, children of doctor couple Hamdi and Alaa al-Najjar, only eleven-year-old Adam survives. Mother Alaa collapses when the remains of the children she carried arrive at Nasser Hospital, where she works.
We couldn't identify them; they were all burned. A horrific sight, impossible to bear. What had the children done wrong? asks relative Ali al-Najjar in an interview with Qatari Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
Fleeing Inferno
Monday, Gaza City. Israeli bombs set a school with refugees on fire. 18 children are killed, many of them asleep.
of five-year-old Ward al-Shaykh Khalil fleeing the flames – a small, dark silhouette against a raging inferno – spreads around the world.My sister's sandal, she says afterwards to Australian ABC and points to the rubble: blue plastic decorated with stars and a happy rainbow.
Ward is almost alone now. Her mother and five siblings were trapped in the fire; her father and a brother are being treated for critical injuries.
"How Many More?"
The al-Najjar and al-Shaykh children join a long, horrific list, notes UN's children's fund Unicef.
The price of the Gaza war is paid by them, notes Edouard Beigbeder, regional chief for Unicef, in a statement:
"How many more dead girls and boys are needed? What level of horror must be broadcast live before the international community fully steps in, uses its influence, and takes bold, decisive action?"
"Pallywood"
In Israel, media try to find ways to cast doubt over the atrocities, according to an analysis in Haaretz: "Unable to justify their army's killing of children, Israelis retreat into deep denial."
According to the newspaper, the so-called "Pallywood conspiracy", baseless claims that the images from Gaza are staged, that the victims are only made up to be dead, have taken hold.
We have already lost the capacity to believe or think humanly, said Tom Divon, social media researcher at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, to the newspaper in December.
