Israeli newspaper reports on ‘owl injured by Hamas’

Amid a humanitarian crisis with a Palestinian death toll of 1,000 and counting - hundreds of those children – one Israeli newspaper has freed up space on its website to broadcast the wounds of one of the country’s nocturnal settlers.

Under the headline "Owl hurt by Hamas fire recovering", the Times of Israel reported that a long-eared owl hurt by mortar shrapnel near the Gaza frontier had arrived safely at the vet’s.

Time of Israel screen shot owl

Veterinary student reportedly Ben Itay discovered the bird and brought it to his home.

When rocket salvos from Hamas militants had abated he shepherded it to the Zoological Park in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv.

"The poor creature had lost his vision in his right eye, had a broken beak, and was suffering from shrapnel in his head," the report said, stating further that the vets nursing the bird hoped he could to return to the wild.

The spotting of owls in northern Israel has thrilled bird-watchers there, who say that the birds are now a more familiar sight in Israel as the new forests mature and afford trees apt for nesting, The Telegraph reported on Sunday.

Over 40 Israeli soldiers have also lost their lives in the conflict.

Earlier on Sunday, Pope Francis in Rome pleaded for an end to the hostilities that is claiming innumerable children's lives. "Stop, please stop! I beg you with all my heart," he said on Sunday before pilgrims in St Peter's Square.

"I think of the children, who are robbed of the hope of a dignified life, of a future. Dead children, wounded children, mutilated children, orphans, children who, for toys, have the debris of war. Children who do not know how to smile."

The U.N. Security Council called on Sunday for an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza strip.