Batoul Bsharat was playing with her eight-year-old brother Reda in their village in the occupied West Bank. Moments later an Israeli drone strike killed him and two of their cousins.

"It was the first time in our lives that we played without arguing. It meant so much to me," the 10-year-old said as she sat on the concrete ledge outside the family home in the northern village of Tammun where they had been playing on Wednesday.

At her feet, a crater no wider than two fists marked where the missile hit.

The wall behind her is pockmarked with shrapnel impacts and streaks of blood still stain the ledge.

Besides Reda, Hamza, 10, and Adam, 23, were also killed.

The Israeli army said on Wednesday that it had struck "a terrorist cell" in Tammun, but later promised an investigation into the civilian deaths.

Batoul puts on a brave face but is heart-broken at the loss........

© Al Monitor