A portrait of life and death in Gaza

It was a stunning picture. Friction between Israelis and Palestinians generates countless images, but the photograph of a prostrate teenager in agony next to an inert, almost restful figure on a road by an abandoned bicycle somehow stood out.

So vivid was the light and so dramatic the shell-damaged Jeep backdrop that you could almost hear the boy's scream. Look closely at the second figure's white shirt and its bloom of crimson red might even be growing in front of your eyes.

But while pictures might be worth a thousand words, this one - taken by an agency photographer who arrived at the scene minutes after the blast - told you nothing of who the boys were, how they came to be there and what subsequently happened to them.

To piece that together took days trawling ill-equipped hospital wards, false leads, interviews with traumatised mortuary assistants, and luck. A portrait of life and death in Gaza

[thanks A]