'I Wish I Didn't See What Happened': The Children Killed in the Israel-Hamas Conflict

At least 68 children were killed in the 11 days of fighting this month between Israel and Hamas, the militant Palestinian group in Gaza, according to initial reports cited by The New York Times.

That death toll includes 66 in Gaza and two in Israel and underscores the extent of the bloodshed in what has been the deadliest fighting between Israel and the Palestinians in years.

The conflict largely spiraled out of clashes in East Jerusalem and eventually saw Hamas, regarded as a terrorist organization by the U.S., raining down rockets on parts of Israel.

Israel — which has taken pains to shield itself from such attacks with a sophisticated interception system — responded with what officials said were strikes on military targets in densely populated Gaza, where Hamas presides.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country "will not tolerate attacks on our territory, on our capital, on our citizens and on our soldiers. Whoever attacks us will pay a heavy price."

The fighting drew international concern and calls for peace before ending in a ceasefire last Thursday. Though Israel works to avoid civilian casualties, there were numerous reports of such injuries and deaths in Gaza.

Over the 11 days, at least 230 Palestinians were killed while 12 people were killed in Israel, the Associated Press reported. Tens of thousands of Palestinian residents were also displaced.

The fighting was the deadliest in the region since 2014 and violence between Israel and Hamas dates back to the 1980s, when Hamas was formed, according to the Times.

"These hostilities have resulted in the tragic deaths of so many civilians, including children," President Joe Biden said last week. "I sent my sincere condolences to all the families, Israeli and Palestinian, who have lost loved ones, and my hope for a full recovery for the wounded."

Citing the U.S.' official support of a two-state solution to the conflict, Biden said: "I believe the Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely, and to enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity and democracy. My administration will continue our quiet, relentless diplomacy toward that end."

Here's what we know about the youngest victims.

Five-year-old Ido Avigal is thought to be the youngest child killed in Israel. He died after rocket sirens triggered by a Hamas attack sent his family into a fortified room in their home.

Despite the safeguards, shrapnel pierced the home and injured the boy, his 7-year-old sister, and his mother. Ido ultimately died of his injuries, according to the BBC, with the Israeli military calling it an "incredibly rare" occurrence.

While Hamas and other militant groups fired more than 4,000 rockets at Israeli towns, the majority were intercepted by Israel's defense systems. Most of the casualties were Palestinian (even one of the children killed in Israel, according to the Times, was Palestinian).

The Times reports that an investigation by Defense for Children International Palestine found that least two of the children killed in Gaza may have been wounded by Palestinian militants firing a rocket that didn't hit its intended target.

Israel says it takes preventative measures to avoid civilian casualties and that Hamas uses the surrounding population as de facto shields from retaliation while retreating underground; critics say Israel sometimes uses disproportionate force on a blockaded area where the many Palestinians in Gaza not fighting for Hamas are still at risk.

Among the youngest reported victims in Gaza was a 6-month-old child who died after an Israeli strike hit central Gaza City, burying at least 13 members of the extended al-Kawalek family in the rubble of their own home as it collapsed to the ground.

The BBC, citing the Palestinian Felesteen Online, quoted surviving family member Sanaa al-Kawalek as saying, "We saw nothing but smoke. I couldn't see my son next to me and I was hugging him, but I could see nothing."

In another case, the Times reports that the four al-Hadidi brothers were asleep at their uncle and aunt's home when an Israeli bomb killed them, their cousins and their mother.

The brothers — who lived in a Shati refugee camp in Gaza City — included 12-year-old Suheib al-Hadidi who, according to a cousin speaking to the Times, loved birds and wanted to be a breeder when he grew up. The cousin described 10-year-old Yahyaal-Hadidi as a shy boy who loved cats, while 7-year-old Abdurrahman al-Hadidi loved to play with remote-controlled cars.

The youngest, 5-year-old Osama al-Hadidi, loved to get dressed up for any occasion. "He would shower and change his clothes every two hours," the boys' cousin, Abdullah al-Hadidi, told the Times.

Two other boys, 10-year-old Ammar al-Emour and his cousin, Hamada al-Emour, 13, were killed by an airstrike returning from the barber in Gaza.

"I wish I didn't see what happened to him. It was awful," Hamada's father, Atiya al-Emour, told the Times.

Other children killed include 17-year-old Fawziya Abu Faris, who as the Times reports was known to wake up early each morning at her home in northern Gaza to tend to her family's sheep and "make fresh cheese and yogurt."

According to the Defense for Children International Palestine, Fawziya and her 9-month-old nephew, Mohammad Salameh Mohammad Abu Dayyeh, along with her two adult sisters were killed by Israeli-fired artillery shells. The family had been gathered at their home to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Also celebrating the end of Ramadan were siblings Dana Ishkontana, 9, Lana Ishkontana, 5, Yahya Ishkontana, 4, and Zain Ishkontana, 2.

As the children dressed up in their holiday outfits, their uncle Raed Ishkontana took photos and then left to grab candy bars for the family, the Times reports. While he was gone, an Israeli airstrike killed all four children and their mother.

"I wish I never left," he told the Times.