The conflict between Israel and Hamas has taken a heavy toll on civilians in the crowded coastal territory of Gaza. And children make up more than half of Gaza's 1.4 million people. Young Palestinians are getting caught up in the devastating offensive.

As an Israeli airstrike rains down on Rafah in the Southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian children run through the streets, crying and terrified.

After nearly two weeks of conflict, many of them are without water and electricity...and food is scarce.

More than 100 children have been killed, and hundreds more wounded.

Experts warn that young survivors could be scarred for life as they watch their siblings and friends being killed in the fighting.

Kate Conrad, Representative of “Save the Children”, said: "Their children are upset, they scream any time a bomb goes off. They don't know what's going on. Children are very vulnerable psychologically because they cannot process this kind of information."

As Israel continues to pound the coastal territory, constant streams of dead and wounded young Palestinians have been brought into Gaza's overrun hospitals.

Some believe that the psychological and ideological changes due to this crisis could be even more lasting than the physical effects.

Abdel Bari Atwan, Editor In Chief Of Al-Quds Al-Arabi, a London-Based Pan-Arab newspaper, said: "This generation how they act in the future, either they will be traumatized and suffering from psychological problems, maybe handicapped psychologically, or they will be very radical in the future and they could be the new generation of suicide bomber."

Stories about these children...and of course photos... have been printed in newspapers all over the world.

The Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority's Fatah government, Salaam Fayyad, held up a photo and expressed his outrage on Thursday.

Salaam Fayyad, Palestinian Prime Minister, said: "Pictures like this keep on being transmitted from Gaza Strip. That's what's at stake. That's what's at stake."

The UN said this week that there is an "increasingly alarming" humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as casualties kept mounting.

The plight of young Palestinians is perhaps set to continue, as violence in the region shows no signs of letting up.

(CCTV January 12, 2009)