Children in Gaza, a Palestinian territory under Israeli siege, are having their names written on their hands to make it easier to identify their bodies if they are killed in an attack by Israel.
Grief-stricken parents carrying the bodies of children in white shrouds through Gaza streets have become a familiar sight since the war started.
Doctors say they are fighting a losing battle against a lack of medicines, water and fuel to keep hospitals running.
Eight children aged between two and five were among 10 people from the same family killed in an air strike on a house in the city of Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza, early on Wednesday, relatives said.
“The children were asleep when they destroyed the house,” their 67-year-old grandfather, Abu Mohammad Wafi al-Bakri, said.
Diyala, Ayman, Hamada, Zaher, Uday, Jamal, Nabil and Acil all came from one extended family and all slept on the ground floor. It took an hour after the raid to find their bodies, rescuers said.
“None of my children were linked to Palestinian organisations and no men were in the house at the time,” said Jihad al-Bakri, father of three children.
He had left his home an hour before the missile hit to try to find water.
At Najjar Hospital in Rafah, doctors mourned the unborn child of a woman killed by a missile strike early on Thursday.
Arij Marwan al-Banna, seven months pregnant, and her daughters, Sarah and Samya, both aged under 10, were killed on the spot, medical sources told AFP.
Banna had fled to her parents’ house from northern Gaza after Israel warned its 1.1 million people to head south.
Doctors operated but could not save her child.
She was posthumously named Fatima and her tiny body bag placed atop that of her mother, doctors said.
US President Joe Biden announced after visiting Israel on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to let some food, water and medicines into Gaza. He said some deliveries could be made on Friday.
Wary inhabitants kept away from the gates fearing that they would again be a target for Israel’s relentless strikes after the crossing was hit four times last week.
“I have been waiting for three days with my family in a house 10 minutes away. We are ready with our bags but we just don’t know if or when the crossing will open,” said Mohammed, a 40-year-old working for an Italian group.
Majed, 43, who works for a German organisation, told AFP: “I came on my own this morning. If the crossing opens, I will get my wife and family — they’re ready.”
