Palestinians scramble to hospitals after Israeli airstrikes hit homes, encampments across Gaza
More than 400 were killed in wave of Israeli strikes as ceasefire appears to crumble
WARNING: This story contains a graphic image of a dead child.
In a quiet corner of the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist hospital courtyard in Gaza City, Ahmed Shaaban holds an infant in his arms as tears roll down his cheeks.
His nephew is carefully wrapped in a white shroud as Shaaban slowly pats his body and looks at face — the only part of the baby that is not shrouded. Little wisps of blond hair peek through the white cloth, and Shaaban tries to make sense of what happened to his family.
"Why did you kill him Mr. [Benjamin] Netanyahu," Muzain Shaaban, the child's grandfather, told CBC freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife on Tuesday. "Why did you do that?"
Overnight, Israel made "extensive" strikes on parts of the Gaza Strip, killing at least 404 people and injuring hundreds more, bringing into question the second phase of the ceasefire as Israel vowed to use force to release its remaining hostages.
The deaths marked one of the biggest single-day tolls since the war erupted.
Palestinian Civil Defence member Mahmoud Bassal said Israeli airstrikes hit civilian homes, shelters, tent encampments and schools across the Gaza Strip. Witnesses said Israeli tanks shelled the enclave from across the border.
"Entire families were eradicated from the civil registry in these attacks," Bassal told CBC News on Tuesday.
"Many families will gather in one place, even if the building might [be destroyed]. They want to stay together to comfort each other."
A large number of those killed were women and children, he said.
As strikes were ongoing, people swarmed the hospital courtyard; it filled with bodies as Palestinians took stock of the aftermath of the night's attacks. Hundreds gathered around the bodies wrapped in white shrouds, which were lined up with the names and ages of the people in them written in black marker. Some were children.
26 family members killed overnight
Musab Quraiqa had his own list as he stood near his family: he wrote down the names of every aunt, uncle, cousin and sibling who had died overnight.
"After a short ceasefire, my family was bombed without any warning," he said. "They didn't send a warning, they didn't call — just suddenly, while they were sleeping."
He pointed at the list of names in his hand, estimating roughly 26 killed from his family, including women and children, but he said he thinks that number could climb to 40.
He said some were preparing a meal before dawn to get ready for another day of fasting for Ramadan.
'They destroyed the house on us'
Mahmoud Badr jogged across the courtyard with three other men, carrying the body of one of their loved ones. He led a chant for their souls: "There is no God but Allah and martyrs are loved by Allah."
He said the strike came without warning.
"They destroyed the house on us," he said. "Whoever died, died, and whoever got out, survived."
He followed a horse-drawn cart out of the courtyard carrying bodies to their burial.
The sounds of war, something all too familiar in Gaza now, filled the air after weeks of silence; buzzing drones flew above as Jihad Al-Sakani explained the events of the night.
At the sounds of the bombs dropping, he said he was "shaken" awake and ran to see the neighbours and found everyone dead. Al-Sakani wiped a tear from his eye as he said he tried to understand the situation he was facing.
"We were terrified," he said.
Later in the day on Tuesday, families in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, and eastern areas of Khan Younis, in the south, fled their homes, some on foot, others in cars or rickshaws, carrying some of their belongings after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders, warning the areas were "dangerous combat zones."
Thousands of Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and abducting 251 hostages into Gaza.
The Israeli campaign in response has killed more than 48,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and destroyed much of the housing and infrastructure in the enclave.
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With files from the CBC's Mohamed El Saife and Reuters