Four young boys – members of the same family – playing football on the beach were killed by what is believed to have been gunfire from Israeli warships carrying out a blockade of Gaza.
The attack on the fishing port in Gaza City came at just after four o’clock on a sunny and clear afternoon with good visibility. The group of cousins, aged between nine and 11, were around what looked like a derelict shed when they were hit by a shell from the direction of the sea.
Of the four others, who had more severe wounds, one died at the scene, the other three after arriving at the hospital.
“The kids were playing football on the beach. They were all... under the age of 15,” said witness Ahmed Abu Hassera, 22.
All the victims were sons of fishermen. Ismael Mohammed Bakr, nine, Zakaria Ahed Bakr and Ahed Atif Bakr, both 10, and Mohammed Ramiz Bakr, were the dead. There was grief and rage with an uncle, Abdel Kareem Bakr, accusing the Israeli forces of “cold blooded massacre”.
“It’s a shame they didn’t identify them as just kids with all the advanced technology they had been using,” he said. “I don’t know what justification they will use for what they did, but our boys are now gone.”
