Unfortunately it takes us three to four hours to reach Khan Younis," said Najar, speaking on the back of the cart. The slower pace gives a clear view of a city scarred by war, with the white donkey trotting past one scene of destruction after another. The destruction in Khan Younis in the south is not as extreme as in Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza that have borne the brunt of Israel's military campaign. Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an assault on Gaza that has killed more than 15,000 people, four in ten of them children, according to health officials there. "They didn't leave a tree or a stone," he said, appealing to God to bring the war to an end.

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Persons: Bassam Masoud, Fadi Shana KHAN YOUNIS, Khan Younis, Mohammed al Najar, Estelle Shirbon, Janet Lawrence Organizations: Reuters, World Health Organization Locations: Gaza, Khan, Khuza'a, Gaza City, rampaged, Israel