[WARNING: Graphic images below]

SHAJAH Zorab was asleep in her home when it was hit by a missile. She woke up in hospital with severe injuries, covered in bandages.

The nine-year-old has been asking for her mother, but no one had the heart to tell her that she was dead, along with 20 other members of her family.

Shajah also did not know that she has been rescued twice while unconscious, the second time from al-Najjar Hospital, when shells started crashing in, or that the ambulance she had been in had been fired on.

But she was awake to hear the massive explosion in the afternoon which destroyed a house nearby, belonging to the Taha family, killing four of them.

The death toll in Rafah has risen to more than 100 in 24 hours since the Israeli military unleashed its fury on the town after announcing that one of its soldiers, Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, had been kidnapped and two others killed in an ambush in which a suicide bomber was used.

Fifty-four bodies had to be left at al-Najjar when it was evacuated. Many among the more than 200 injured had to be taken to local clinics which do not have the resources to treat them adequately because of dangers on the main roads going out.

Benjamin Netanyahu's government officially cancelled a 72-hour ceasefire, which was supposed to be the precursor to a peace deal, although the air strikes and tank rounds had already announced the cancellation.

Israel has vowed to continue its military campaign in the Gaza Strip with as much force as necessary for as long as their mission takes.

"Our army continues to work toward the completion of this operation. After the completion of the destruction of the tunnels, we will regroup according to our security needs while our overall goal is to restore calm and peace," Mr Netanyahu said in a televised speech.

"It (Hamas) will have to understand, however long that takes, that it will pay an intolerable price, from its perspective, for continuation of the shooting."