GRIPPING their wailing children, terrified Gaza civilians scuttled for any shelter they could find as Israeli tanks barrelled into the heart of a residential neighbourhood in Gaza City.
Loaded down with babies, toddlers and children, dozens of families arrived at the doors of the Al-Quds hospital shortly after dawn as dozens of tanks roared into the area, sparking furious battles with Palestinian fighters.
Inside the facility, the residents found space where they could. Mothers tried to console their crying children and to make them laugh.
"I brought the children to the hospital because they were scared at home, but here they are even more terrified," said Hossein, 40, who huddled in the pediatric ward with his wife and five children.
"The house next door was completely destroyed in the fighting so we had to get out of there. We can't take this any longer. Look at my children, they're trembling."
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But as the frightened civilians took refuge in the facility, part of the hospital caught fire after an Israeli strike. The blaze was brought under control in the medical area but not in the administrative building.
The attack put about 100 patients and medical staff at risk, according to the international Red Cross, while a doctor inside said many of them were trapped.
"The Israelis are bombing and attacking all around the hospital. We can't get out. There's fire, and we're trapped inside. The water has been cut off," French doctor Regis Garrigue said.
The hospital was hit after around 12 hours of "incessant" bombing, said Garrigue, the president and founder of the French medical aid agency Help Doctors.
The collapse of the entire wing of a building triggered a moment of panic among the sheltering patients and families, and caused a fire in the building.
"I can't even describe the horror of that moment," he said.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24919824-401,00.html
