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The death toll continues to mount in battered Gaza with hundreds of children among the dead and the traumatised, including these three terrified, injured boys. In Israel, a British mother was laid to rest with her two daughters, killed by Hamas in in the October 7 massacres along with more than 1,400 other Jews and foreign nationals.<\/p>\n
The harrowing scenes are typical of too many from a Middle East war triggered by the Islamic fanatics\u2019 murderous rampage. Death, injury and hopelessness have taken over a troubled region once more.<\/p>\n
Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner of the Israel Defence Forces said his \u201cheart weeps\u201d for civilians in Gaza but insisted the situation \u201ccannot remain as it was\u201d.<\/p>\n
He called it a \u201ctragedy on both sides of the fence\u201d, adding: \u201cI hope the people of Gaza will have the peace they deserve, just as the people of Israel deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is little immediate hope of a brighter future in this shattered land as Israel continues to prepare for its ground offensive into Gaza.<\/p>\n
The Palestinian territory is run by Hamas and it is where the terrorists are holding more than 200 hostages snatched in their raids.<\/p>\n
Twelve British nationals have been killed and a further five remain missing, feared to have been kidnapped.<\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last night that his forces are set to move in and the timing of would \u201cbe reached by consensus\u201d. He added: \u201cWe have already killed thousands of terrorists and this is only the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel has reportedly agreed to a delay so the US can rush missile defences to the tinderbox region.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/strong> Hamas doesn’t fear Israel and will ‘fight to the end’ against Gaza invasion<\/strong><\/p>\n It is in a bid prevent a war from spreading to neighbouring nations.<\/p>\n Nearly a dozen air defence systems are being sent to protect US troops serving in Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n But at the Nasser Medical Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, the horrible toll of this conflict continues.<\/p>\n Three distraught boys clung to each other for comfort on a hospital bed as blood covered their small bodies and tears flowed down their terrorised faces. Their parents were nowhere to be seen.<\/p>\n In another sobering image a helpless father cradles his son, his hair matted with dried blood, as they await treatment.<\/p>\n They are the some of the latest victims of retaliatory Israeli missile strikes. The Hamas-run health ministry said 6,547 people, including 2,704 children, have been killed so far since the bombardment began.<\/p>\n Humanitarian agencies fear more than 1,500 \u2013 including hundreds of children \u2013 remain buried under the rubble of obliterated buildings.<\/p>\n Some 600,000 Palestinians have also been displaced by the bombing and the warning from Israel to evacuate northern Gaza.<\/p>\n Although aid trucks have started entering the enclave via Egypt with food, water and medicines, the UN Relief and Works Agency says it is a \u201cdrop in the ocean\u201d of what is required to care for the displaced sheltering in 150 of its facilities.<\/p>\n International calls for aid increased yesterday.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/78\/590x\/secondary\/5032846.jpg?r=1698268482925\")
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