CNN's Nada Bashir reports on the latest bloodshed in Gaza,
and we must warn you,
some of what you're about to see is difficult to
watch.
There are simply no words,
this grandfather cradling the body of his seven-year old granddaughter
Ataf,
beside the shallow grave where she will soon be buried.
I told her mother that Ataf is now a bird
in heaven,
Ahmed says, with her aunt,
her cousin and her grandmother,
who were all waiting for her.
You see, we have many martyrs in our family,
Ahmed says. His family had been taking shelter in a
school in Khan Yunus when an air strike hit.
It took hours, he says,
to reach the nearest hospital,
still able to treat little Adolf.
But it was too late.
Across Gaza, more than 10,000 children have been killed since
the war began,
according to the Hamas run health ministry.
Many more left orphaned or facing life changing injuries.
In the central city of Deir El Bala,
the air strikes are near daily.
Those who survive left to dig through the rubble with
their bare hands in search of their loved ones.
Meanwhile, in Rafa, once deemed a safe zone.
UNICEF estimates that there are now more than
600,000 children among the over a million people in the
area,
many taking shelter in these sprawling tent cities.
The southern city has for weeks come under relentless airstrikes
by the Israeli military,
who say they are targeting Hamas.
But now a looming ground operation is stocking fears that
Rafa could become,
as one aid group has described it,
a zone of bloodshed.
If by some misfortune there's an invasion of Rafa,
2/3 of the population will die,
Jabir says. We can't get out of Rafa,
we've no other alternative.
Israel says. It is now calling for a mass evacuation
of civilians in the southern city ahead of a planned
ground offensive,
but it is almost impossible to fathom where else these
civilians can turn to.
But the Rafa has not only become a vital lifeline
for the displaced,
it is also a crucial gateway for humanitarian aid crossing
over from Egypt.
And many in the international community are now sounding alarm
bells over Israel's warning.
And I'm especially alarmed by reports that the Israeli military
intends to focus next on Rafa,
where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been squeezed in
a desperate search for safety.
The US State Department has warned that it cannot support
an Israeli military operation in Rafa without serious planning for
civilians there,
with U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday describing Israel's actions
in Gaza as quote over the top.
But Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already dismissed a
proposal from Hamas for a prolonged truce,
which would see a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from
Gaza and a gradual release of hostages in exchange for
Palestinian prisoners.
Netanyahu, who described the proposal as delusional,
has vowed to push ahead until a quote complete victory
over Hamas is achieved,
leaving little hope for diplomacy as negotiations continue
and little hope for what lies ahead in Gaza.