A The Israeli Army An airstrike on a school sheltering displaced people in southern Gaza City killed at least 22 people on Saturday, the Hamas health ministry said. Israel said the attack targeted the command center of a Hamas militant group.
The strike on the school in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City injured 30 more people, the Gaza Health Ministry said, adding that most of those killed were women and children.
The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas command and control center, which was embedded in a compound that previously served as a school, reiterating the accusation that the group is using civilian facilities for military purposes. Hamas denies the accusations.
Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images
The Israel Defense Forces said that prior to the attack, “numerous measures were taken to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians.”
“The Hamas terrorist organization systematically violates international law by operating from inside civilian infrastructure,” the army said.
Video footage taken at the scene showed blown-out walls, destroyed and burned furniture, and holes in the ceiling of one room.
“The women and their children were sitting in the school playground, the children were playing, and suddenly two rockets hit them,” witness Said Al-Malahi told Reuters.
The war began nearly a year ago, when Hamas fighters killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in an attack on southern Israel on October 7. They have kidnapped another 250 people and are still holding about 100 hostages. Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
Elsewhere, Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah exchange fire In the latest escalation between the two countries, retaliatory strikes have forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes in both southern Lebanon and northern Israel.
