Israel strike kills up to 60 members of one family

Some of the Samouni family died from shrapnel wounds and others from being crushed by falling masonry. But the one death that sticks in Nael al Samouni's mind is that of the relative he claims was shot by an Israeli sniper. "We ran from the shelling and there were people everywhere, members of my family, but one fell down injured,'' Nael, 36, said. "I heard the shot as I ran but there was nothing I could do.'' With Israel barring foreign journalists from reaching Gaza, it is impossible to verify the account of what happened to the Samouni family emerging from eyewitness testimony provided by survivors. But different survivors all gave near identical accounts of how the Israeli army arrived at dawn on Sunday in the area of Zeitoun where the Samouni family have lived for generations. In what the United Nations fears could be the bloodiest single attack of the Israeli assault, as many as 60 members of the extended Samouni family were killed near their homes in the Gazan town of Zeitoun while nine more died in hospital. Dozens of bodies are believed to remain under the rubble of a large house hit repeatedly by Israeli shelling in the incident. The International Committee of the Red Cross has formally requested permission from the Israeli army to visit the scene of the attack to establish the exact scale of the slaughter. Israel has so far not granted permission to the ICRC due to ongoing fighting. Palestinian ambulances have also tried to reach the scene but it remains too dangerous. Several ambulances have been hit by Israeli shelling and at least seven paramedics killed. "There are many houses where we live and they ordered us into the house of my brother, Wael,'' Nael said. Wael, 39, another survivor, said as many as 100 members of the clan crowded into his single-storey home with strict orders from the Israeli soldiers not to move. Three teenage members of the family–Walid, Moussa and Imad–were taken away for questioning by the Israeli army while the remainder waited anxiously without adequate food or water until night fell and fighting intensified outside. They thought they had survived the night when at 6.35am on Monday the house was suddenly hit by a shell that brought the roof down. It was then hit again and again. "I saw my father and mother, and three of my children killed,'' Wael said. "There was blood and bodies everywhere but some people were lost under the rubble. "My wife survived and we had no choice but to run as the shelling continued. "I carried my five-year-old son with me but when we got to hospital they had to cut off his arm.'' He said the survivors ran on foot for about a mile and a half until they reached the main north-south road in Gaza, Salahudin Street, where they found civilian cars to take them to hospital. It was in the chaos of the Israeli barrage that Nael said he saw someone fall down injured. The exact number of dead is impossible to say at this time although doctors in the mortuary at Shifa, the biggest hospital in Gaza, recorded nine members of the Samouni family as reaching the mortuary by Monday afternoon. Among them were Issa, 3, and two other infants. A photograph of their burial made it onto the front page of the International Herald Tribune. Another survivor, Hilmi al Samouni, 26, said that when the Israeli soldiers ordered the 100 or so family members into one place they confiscated their mobile phones. A source at the UN said the Samouni family killings could be the bloodiest single attack for civilians since Israel launched operation Cast Lead eleven days ago. An inquiry about the incident was made to the press office of the Israeli army but by last night no answer had been received.