This Article is From Aug 14, 2014

NDTV Reports on the Carnage in Rafah in Gaza

With most of Rafah closed off to the media, the only point to witness the carnage is the European Hospital, the only operational hospital in Rafah.

Rafah: As the war in Gaza takes on a new intensity, NDTV is the only TV crew to travel to Rafah in South Gaza, where the fighting has been most fierce. Israel had attacked Rafah on Friday, breaking the ceasefire, claiming that Hamas had kidnapped one of its soldiers. But Israel now says the soldier, Hadar Golden, is dead.

Yet as we found, Rafah continues to be under heavy attack, and the targets are young childen, women, entire families, even another UN shelter.  

With most of Rafah closed off to the media, the only point to witness the carnage is the European Hospital, the only operational hospital in Rafah.

We approached it on a deserted road, a tense 45-minute drive from Gaza City.

On the first floor, we found Sharif Al Namala, two and half years old, with severe burn injuries. He had lost his left leg, even as he was just learning to walk.  

His cousin, a five-month old infant, Kossy Al Namala has lost his parents in the same attack.  

Both were returning to their home in Rafah when a missile struck.

The Israel Army shell also hit a UN school-turned-shelter in Rafah, making this the 7th such UN shelter to be bombed. An estimated 7 people were killed.  

We found doctors treating Ashraf Kashef, one of those wounded in the attack, blood oozing out of a shrapnel wound in his chest.

Dr Abdel Aziz, a thoracic surgeon who was treating him said that he was trying to drain blood from Kashef's lungs.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) told NDTV that they were targeting Hamas militants on a motorcycle near the UN shelter, and that they are examining the incident.

Last week, after the bombing of a UN shelter in Jabaliyah, North Gaza, the UN had asked for the international community to act against Israel.

With the pressure on the UN hospital growing, some of the wounded have been shifted to the Nasser Hospital, in the town of Khan Younis.

Here we found the Al Khool family from Rafah, ten of whose members were killed on the same morning.

The only survivors: Haneen, four years old, with a shrapnel wound in her cheek. Her cousin Yakeen is in the ICU. Next to Haneen is her cousin Mahmoud, 10 years old, with shrapnel in his abdomen.

They have lost their parents and grandparents. A relative from Khan Younis, Rayed Al Khoul, is keeping an eye on them.

He said they were fast asleep when the bombs struck. Was there any Hamas presence nearby, we asked? No, he said, its a dense residential neighborhood where any movement in and out is immediately visible.

IDF told us that Hamas took the body of the abducted soldier deep into civilian areas of Rafah, which is why the battle raged there. They claim to have found his body parts in Hamas tunnels, and the hunt has been called off.

But that doesn't explain why homes and shelters in Rafah continue to be attacked.  

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