Middle East News
Gaza death toll tops 1,400, two children killed by explosive (Extra)
Jan 20, 2009, 8:56 GMT
Gaza City - The Palestinian death toll of Israel's three-week offensive in the Gaza Strip has exceeded the 1,400, health officials said Tuesday.
Two Palestinian children were killed when they found an explosive device or shell, probably left behind by the Israeli army, in eastern Gaza City, which detonated when they touched it, the officials said.
Twelve more bodies were also found under the rubble of destroyed homes, and a number of the injured died of their wounds in hospital.
The Palestinian toll of the offensive now stands at 1,414 killed and some 5,500 injured, Mo'aweya Hassanein, the chief of emergency services at the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, told reporters.
Explosives experts of Hamas' security forces warned residents and children not to touch or play with any suspicious objects, and to immediately call the police if they found any.
Thirteen Israelis have also died in ground fighting and by Palestinian rockets, since Israel launched the offensive on December 27 in a bid to curb rocket and mortar attacks from the strip at its southern towns and villages.
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