SAVAGE ATTACKS.. DEADLY PAYBACK

Hamas bombs kids' hospital Civilians hit in blitz on Gaza

- CHRIS HUGHES

AS the horrific Israel-Hamas war continues to rage and the death toll rises, the biggest casualties are yet again innocent civilians.

There were last night fears the bloodshed will only get worse with Tel Aviv preparing for a ground offensive and Hezbollah threatening to launch more strikes on Israel from Lebanon and Syria.

Pope Francis last night called for peace and King Charles branded last week's Hamas raid on Israel "appalling". The militant group yesterday launched a rocket attack on a children's hospital in Ashkelon, 10 miles north of Gaza.

People were pictured running for cover as the missiles rained down on an array of other targets.

And Israel continued its retaliation strikes on Gaza, even though Hamas are holding an estimated 150 hostages snatched from Israel last week.

Entire neighbourhoods were demolished, as hospitals ran low on supplies and Gaza's only power plant ran out of fuel.

Pictures emerged of children injured by the strikes while other parts of Gaza City were under rubble.

The Israeli blockade of the enclave, condemned by the UN, is only making things worse for the 2.1million people there, almost half of them children.

Saturday's attack on Be'eri kibbutz in Israel by Hamas sparked the latest bloody conflict. It left 1,200 people dead, including many at a music festival. Officials said 17 Brits are among those missing feared killed.

Ayelet Svatitzky, originally from Wakefield, West Yorks, told how Hamas taunted her by sending pictures of her mother Channah Peri, 79, and brother Nadav Popplewell, 51, being snatched, before killing her other brother Roi, 54.

Ayelet, who has lived in Israel with her family for years now, said: "Someone used my mum's phone to take the pictures of her and my brother, then sent them to me with a message saying: 'Hamas'.