No let-up in Israeli bombardment as toll of martyred Palestinians rises to 3,785, over 13,000 wounded

GAZA (Reuters) - Inside Gaza there is no let-up in the Israeli bombardment that health officials say has so far martyred nearly 3,785 people and wounded more than 13,000.

The martyred people include 1,524 children, 1,000 women and 120 aged people. In Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, an area of shops was reduced to rubble as far as the eye could see, with a toddler’s pink cot overturned on the ground, windows blown off a clothing store and damaged vehicles.

Rafat Al-Nakhala, who had sought shelter in there after obeying Israel's order for civilians to flee Gaza City in the north, said nowhere was safe. "I’m over 70 years old, I’ve lived through several wars, it’s never been like this, it has never been this brutal, no religion and no conscience. Thank God. We only have hope in God, not in any Arab or Muslim country or anyone in the world, except for God.”

Footage from the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north showed residents digging with their bare hands inside a damaged building to free a small boy and girl trapped under masonry. The body of a man was hauled out of the ruins on a stretcher as residents tried to light up the site with torches on their mobile phones.

The United Nations says around half of Gazans have been made homeless, still trapped inside the enclave, one of the most densely populated places on earth.

RAGE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

The plight of Gaza civilians has enraged the Middle East, making it more difficult for Biden and other Western leaders to rally Arab allies to prevent the war from spreading.

An explosion at a hospital in Gaza on the eve of Biden's visit scuppered his plans to meet Arab leaders, who called off a summit with him. Palestinians blamed the explosion on an Israeli air strike and said it killed nearly 500 people. However, Israel said it was caused by a failed rocket launch by Palestinian fighters. Angry demonstrations erupted in cities throughout the region.