GAZA CITY, October 6 (IslamOnline.net) - Just like always, Palestinian schoolgirl Iman Al-Hams was on her way to school, smiling and running to join the morning queue and fly the flag, which is always at half-mast over dozens of fellow ones killed by Israeli forces day in and day out.

Though the sound of bullets fired by Israeli soldiers was quite familiar to her ears, it was so close this time as bullets penetrated her small satchel.

Witnesses told IslamOnline.net that Iman had tried to run for her life, but three trigger-happy Israeli soldiers were so frenzied that they kept chasing her with their bullets.

According to medics, some 20 bullets have riddled her tiny body, including five in the head.

Iman was left lying in a pool of blood because ambulances had been denied access as usual, recalled the witnesses.

"Breath is poor and words are unable to express our grief," her eldest brother Ihab told IOL as tears rolled down his cheeks.

Iman was taken to Rafah’s morgue, which was bursting at the seams with her friends and family members who came to give her a send-off.

"We couldn’t believe our eyes at first and thought it was a terrifying nightmare. We will be missing her," said Ihab.

"Though she is far apart, she will be always in my heart," her tearful mother said.

Too many Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli occupation troops over the past four years since the outbreak of the second Intifada on September 28, 2000.

One of the most heartrending incidents was the killing of a four-month baby girl in an Israeli raid.