Gazans mourn 33 Palestinians killed in Israeli attack

Dozens of relatives wept and recited verses from the Quran, Islam's holy book, at a hospital in the Gaza Strip on Dec. 13 before burying some of the 33 Palestinians killed in an Israeli air strike on a post office where they had been sheltering.

Medics said families displaced by the 14-month-old conflict had sought refuge at the postal facility in Nuseirat camp. The attack late on Dec. 12 damaged several houses nearby.

Israel said it was targeting a senior Islamic Jihad member when it hit the structure.

Some of the bodies gathered at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat were wrapped in white shrouds and others in blankets from home. The families accompanied them on a walk to their graves.

"They have killed the hope and optimism," said Mr. Suheil Mattar, whose grandchildren and daughter-in-law were killed. "Every time things happen and we say there will be a truce, and we will rest... After that, they change their minds, we don't know why," Mr. Mattar said.