Gaza — On second day of the recent round of fighting in Gaza, as the sun set in the overcrowded Jabalia camp, the children played outside. They were not afraid of rocket fire, as they had long grown used to the ongoing military operations in Gaza. As the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement launched rockets from an area near the Imad Aqel mosque, one missile veered off course and struck civilians in the crowded camp. It killed seven people, including four children, and injured 21, according to the Ministry of Health.

The incident, most of whose victims were children, angered many Gazans. Though they initially blamed Israel for the massacre, the Israeli army reported that five rockets fired toward Israel had fallen inside Gaza. The PIJ fired 1,100 rockets toward Israel, 200 of which fell inside Gaza, killing 15 civilians altogether.

While PIJ officials refused to talk to Al-Monitor, Al-Monitor’s team went to talk to the residents of the Jabalia camp, where a PIJ rocket fell. It found the street where the rocket had hit children was a small and crowded alleyway.

A resident of a nearby street told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “On Saturday, the second day of the military operation, at 9 p.m., we were startled by the sound of a huge explosion hitting the next street. My brothers and I rushed to see what happened. I saw people trying to extinguish a fire with water as they waited for the civil defense and ambulance cars to arrive. I saw a 12-meter-long missile that exploded horizontally. I thanked God that it did not explode vertically. Otherwise, a very big massacre would have ensued.”