Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported that five children were killed and at least seven were injured after Israeli soldiers fired a missile at a playground in Dir Al Balah, in the central Gaza Strip.
The children, lacking electricity in their homes after the army repeated shelled power generators in the Gaza Strip, were playing on a playground in the evacuated settlement of Kfar Darom near dir Al Balah when the attack happened.
“I still cannot believe what happened. We were playing happily, then a shell hit the playground,” Jihad Fu’ad Al Masar’a, 13, one of the injured children, said, “My friends were killed and the playground was covered with blood What did we do wrong? Why do they want to kill us?”
Dr. Moawiya Hassanen, head of the Emergency Unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, reported that the bodies of the five children were severely mutilated, making identification difficult.
“The heads were separated from their bodies; their hands, legs severed”, Dr. Hassanen said, adding that the body parts were burnt, fractured and had metal shards in them.
The seven injured children were identified as Jihad Fu’ad Al Masar’a, 13, Yousef Abu Samra, 14, Mohammad Ahmad Al Adeeny, 14, Adi Jihad Mousa, 15, Abdul-Rahman Fahed Al Maghary, 17, Abdullah Abu Mgheisib, 16, and an unidentified 14-year old child who is currently in serious condition at the local hospital.
At least 23 residents, including nine members of the same family, were killed by Israeli shells on Wednesday. 38 residents were injured.
