UN human rights chief warns of 'darkest moment' as 72 die in Gaza

At least 72 people have been killed in Israeli operations across Gaza in the past day, hospital officials in the besieged territory have said, although communication difficulties in the north of the Strip mean the final toll could be much higher.

- Bethan McKernan

In the central town of Khan Younis, 38 people, including at least 13 children from the same family, were killed in airstrikes early yesterday, hospital records showed. Relatives cradled their bruised and broken bodies in the morgue of the nearby European hospital before they were buried, in some cases several children to a shroud.

Other survivors sifted through the rubble of the strike, which hit the Manara neighbourhood, for belongings such as clothes and documents. Saleh al-Farra, who lost his 17-yearold brother and 15-year-old sister in the attack, said the family had tried to move into the middle of the building for safety before a direct hit collapsed the structure and he passed out.

"I started screaming until my brother and father came, and they started trying to get me out," he said. "I didn't know anything about anyone," he told the Associated Press.