Five Palestinian children aged between two and 10 were burned to death early today in a blaze which ripped through the tent they were living in after Israeli forces destroyed their house, Palestinian police said.
The parents of the five children also suffered serious burns when a candle fell on to a plastic gallon drum of olive oil in the tent they were living in near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
Police and relatives said the Hunedek family's house was destroyed by Israeli tanks and bulldozers on December 13, after which they moved into a tent.
Three boys - Sufian, six, Hassan, 11 and Fadi, nine - as well as their five-year-old sister Turkiya were killed in the blaze, while their two-year-old brother Nafez died several hours later.
Their handicapped father Marus, 50, and mother Zanab, 45, also suffered around 80 per cent burns and were in critical condition, hospital officials said.
AFP