1 In 5 Gaza Dead Are Children

A Palestinian medic carries a wounded girl in the emergency room of Shifa hospital in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, early Friday, July 18, 2014. Minors make up almost one-fifth of those killed in Israel's 11-day bombardment of Hamas targets in densely populated Gaza, where half the population is under the age of 18.

BEIT LAHIYA, GAZA STRIP (AP) — Sobbing and shaking, Ismail Abu Musallam leaned against the wall of a hospital Friday, waiting for three of his children to be prepared for burial. They were killed as they slept when an Israeli tank shell hit their home, burying 11-year-old Ahmed, 14-year-old Walaa and 16-year-old Mohammed under debris in their beds.

His personal tragedy is not unique: the U.N. says minors make up one-fifth of the 299 Palestinians killed in 11 days of intense Israeli bombardment of the densely populated Gaza Strip, where half the 1.7 million people are under age 18.