By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The scene inside "Palestine Square", where shrapnel rained down on dozens of shoppers who dared leave their homes in Gaza City on Sunday, was one of utter bedlam. "Where is Nadia, my daughter, where is she?" screamed one frantic shopper, who turned out to be luckier than most. Nadia was hiding in a clothing store, safe but scared. Israel's deadly shelling of Gaza City's central market sent a terrifyingly clear message to already traumatised residents: no place was safe now that its ground offensive had begun. Medics said at least five Palestinians were killed, all of them civilians. Another 40 wounded Palestinians were bundled into private cars for the harrowing drive to Shifa hospital, which has been overwhelmed by all the wounded. Its floors are stained red by blood. An Israeli army spokeswoman said she was not aware of any shells falling on the central Gaza City market, adding that all of the targets were linked to Hamas. With fighting raging nearby, Gaza City's streets looked largely deserted. The loudest sounds were ambulance sirens and explosions. The sky was filled with smoke. At Shifa, a foreign doctor volunteering for the Red Crescent, described "nightmare" conditions for patients, young and old, many horribly disfigured by flying shrapnel and fire. "A lot of people are being cut down," the doctor, a woman, said. "The situation is terrible. People are leaving their homes. Everyone is terrified." The frontline in the ground war has moved closer to Gaza City by the hour. Gunmen from different factions, long at odds, jointly patrolled some streets. Headbands let passersby differentiate between them: green for Hamas, black for Islamic Jihad and yellow for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction. "God protect you," 60-year-old Abu Khaled said to the gunmen watching for Israeli tanks near Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip. "Our blood is one and our homeland is one and I hope that this war can unite those young men permanently and not just because there is an incursion," he added. Abu Ubaida, spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, said the morale of his men was high. "We have been able to hit a tank ... and more surprises are awaiting the invaders," he promised. Hamas political leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh and Mahmoud al-Zahar, have not been seen in public since the Israeli offensive started on Dec. 27. Hamas spokesmen rebuffed Israeli suggestions that their leaders had gone into hiding for fear of assassination as Israeli drones watched overhead. "I say the Israeli leaders have gone underground after Hamas officials threatened to target them," Abu Ubaida said. (Editing by Adam Entous and Samia Nakhoul)
Demonstrators burn an effigy of Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during a protest against Israel's attacks on Gaza, in Istanbul January 4, 2009. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY) ...
