By Matthew Doran, ABC
Ward Sheikh Khalil. Photo: ABC News
Sitting amongst charred rubble and clutching a rag doll with a few strands of bright pink woollen hair, Ward Sheikh Khalil is handling a wave of attention with maturity beyond her years.
Her story of survival is stunning, to say the least - particularly given the unimaginable losses her family experienced in the early hours of Monday morning.
A silhouette of Ward, calmly walking through a school set ablaze in an Israeli air strike, quickly spread around the world.
Now in full view, the brave 5-year-old explained how she remarkably survived the fire.
"I escaped the fire walking on the side [of the room]," she told the ABC in Gaza City.
"My mother's room was smashed and the ceiling fell on me.
"I went out alone, no-one helped me.
"I escaped the fire, then came back and found no-one. I was on my own."
Ward's father and brother survived the strike and the fire and remain in hospital in a critical condition.
Her mother and five brothers and sisters perished.
"That's my sister's sandal," she pointed out in the rubble.
"Mum is in paradise."
Ward Sheikh Khalil is seen escaping the school strike in Gaza City. Photo: ABC/Supplied
'Real miracle'
The family had been sheltering in the Fahmi Al-Jarjawi School in Gaza City, after being forced to flee Israel's bombardment of the strip multiple times during the course of the 19-month-long war.
Palestinian health authorities said 36 people were killed in the strike - the majority of them women and children.
"We are staying at a school even though they bomb schools, but what can we do?" Ward's uncle, Iyad Sheikh Khalil, told the ABC.
"There are no alternatives - streets are full, landfills are full, neighbourhoods and homes are full, we hardly have homes like before."
Iyad was staying in a different area when he heard the news of a strike hitting the school where his brother's family were sheltering.
"We went on social media, I saw the image of Ward - I recognised her," he said.
"That's how I found out that the missile hit my brother and his children.
"We did not dare come at night because at night planes will hit you if you walk on the street. "
Iyad said it was a "real miracle" that his niece had survived.
'Without warning'
The Israel Defense Forces and domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet said it had been targeting a "command and control centre" used by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.
"The command and control centre was used by the terrorists to plan and gather intelligence in order to execute terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops," it said in a statement.
"Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence."
The comments do not mention giving advance notice to families sheltering at the school to flee.
"I was not here, but that was without warning," Iyad said.
"Had there been an evacuation order, they would have moved out, we would not have seen that many killed and injured."
Israel also has not released any evidence to back up its claim that militants were using the school as a command centre.
The only imagery released was a satellite image with highlighted areas showing what Israel said the military hit.
Global pressure
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen is the latest world leader to condemn Israel's conduct in Gaza, following in the footsteps of British, French and Canadian politicians intensifying their criticism of the Netanyahu government.
"The expansion of Israel's military operations in Gaza targeting civilian infrastructure, among them a school that served as a shelter for displaced Palestinian families, killing civilians, including children, is abhorrent," Ms von der Leyen told Jordan's King Abdullah, according to an EU readout of their latest phone call.
"We call on the government of Israel to put an immediate halt on the current escalation.
"We also call on the terrorist organisation of Hamas to immediately and without any delays release the remaining hostages cruelly held since 7 October 2023."
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has reiterated his concerns about the conflict.
"What has happened in recent days appears to me no longer to be urgently necessary for the defence of Israel's right to exist and for fighting Hamas's terrorism," he told a press conference in Finland.
"The civilian population is being affected excessively here.
"What is happening there at present is no longer comprehensible and therefore, we will intensify dialogue with the government in Israel."
The sharper language from world leaders, including Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, has been welcomed but also as coming far too late for the Palestinian population in Gaza.
Since the war began, Palestinian health authorities said more than 53,000 people had been killed in Israeli strikes.
More than 1100 were killed and 250 taken hostage in Hamas's deadly attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023, fuelling the war.
Fifty-eight hostages remain in the strip, and the Netanyahu government is facing intense criticism at home over its handling of ceasefire and hostage release negotiations.
- ABC
