ON THE GROUND:FOUR EXHAUSTED children have been discovered cowering in a house next to the bodies of their mothers by staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which yesterday accused the Israeli military of "unacceptable" delays in allowing medics safe access to injured Gazans.
The Red Cross workers found the children, who were so weak they could not stand, next to the bodies of their mothers in a house in Zeitoun, southeast of Gaza City. Another man was found alive, but again too weak to stand. At least 12 corpses were lying on mattresses.
In another house nearby they found 15 survivors, several of whom were wounded. There were three more bodies in a third house.
On Wednesday, a Palestinian volunteer with the Red Crescent who was in the same convoy described seeing dozens of bodies.
Among those killed on Monday when the houses were shelled were three boys, all from the Samouni family. The Red Cross said Israeli soldiers were posted 80 metres away and had several positions nearby, including two tanks.
It was a shocking incident, said Pierre Wettach, head of the Red Cross delegation for Israel and the Palestinian territories. "The Israeli military must have been aware of the situation but did not assist the wounded, neither did they make it possible for us or the Palestine Red Crescent to assist the wounded."
The Red Cross had been asking the Israeli military to allow them access to Zeitoun since Israel's ground invasion began on Saturday, but only a three-hour lull on Wednesday allowed them to make the dangerous journey.
The Red Cross said Israel had breached international humanitarian law by not allowing access to the wounded and said it "considers the delay in allowing rescue services access unacceptable".
As the conflict deepened, striking evidence from Red Cross medics and from Palestinian witnesses revealed that one of the worst incidents of civilian killings during Israel's offensive happened in Zeitoun. The area had been surrounded by large earth walls dug by Israeli troops, making it impossible to bring in ambulances.
Medics on Wednesday took out 30 wounded and exhausted on the back of a donkey cart. More wounded are believed to be sheltering in houses nearby.
Under international humanitarian law, both the Israeli military and Palestinian armed groups must do everything possible to search for, collect and evacuate the wounded, the Red Cross said. Attacks on medical staff, hospitals and vehicles are prohibited, but more than 20 medical staff have already been killed in Gaza by the Israeli military.
In a written response, the Israeli military did not address the detailed criticisms but said Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls Gaza, "deliberately used Palestinian civilians as human shields". It said it would investigate any serious allegations about the military's conduct.
Israeli air strikes destroyed several houses in Rafah, on Gaza's southern border, after leaflets were dropped warning residents to leave. - (Guardian service)