A father mourns 2 sons killed in an Israeli strike as hunger worsens in Gaza

Deir Al-Balah(Gaza Strip): Three brothers in the Gaza Strip woke up early to run to a local clinic to get “sweets,” their word for the emergency food supplements distributed by aid groups. By the time their father woke up, two of the brothers had been fatally wounded by an Israeli strike and the third had lost an eye.

The strike outside the clinic on Thursday in the central city of Deir al-Balah killed 14 people, including 9 children, according to a local hospital, which had initially reported 10 children killed but later said one had died in a separate incident. The Israeli military said it targeted a militant it said had taken part in the Hamas attack that ignited the 21-month war.

Security camera footage appeared to show two young men targeted as they walked past the clinic where several people were squatting outside. Hatem Al-Nouri's four- year-old son, Amir, was killed immediately. His eight-year-old son, Omar, was still breathing when he reached the hospital but died shortly thereafter.

He said that at first he didn't recognise his third son, two-year-old Siraj, because his eye had been torn out. “What did these children do to deserve this?” the father said as he broke into tears.

“They were dreaming of having a loaf of bread.” In a separate development, the Palestinian Health Ministry in the Israeli-occupied West Bank said a 23-year-old was beaten to death on Friday by Israeli settlers near the city of Ramallah.(AP)