Cairo. An Israeli airstrike hit two schools in Gaza City on Sunday, killing at least 25 people, the official Palestinian news agency reported, while the Israeli army said it had hit a Hamas military compound embedded in the schools.
An Israeli airstrike hit a tent camp inside a hospital in central Gaza early in the day. Gazan health officials said at least 44 Palestinians were killed on Sunday, a day after a round of talks in Cairo ended inconclusively.
Images broadcast by Palestinian media showed bodies strewn across the courtyard of one of two schools destroyed by the blasts, as residents rushed to load victims, including children, into ambulances that took them to at least two nearby hospitals.
Palestinian state news agency WAFA and Hamas media said there were dozens of wounded in addition to the 25 killed at the Hassan Salama and Al-Nasser schools, which housed displaced Palestinian families. They said the attack destroyed several structures inside the facilities.
The Israeli military said it targeted militants from a Hamas commando embedded in the schools, accusing Hamas of operating from civilian properties. Hamas denies using civilian institutions for military purposes.
The Hamas government press office said Israel had attacked 172 designated shelters, mostly schools, housing thousands of displaced families since Oct. 7.
Earlier in the day, an Israeli strike inside the Al-Aqsa hospital complex caused a fire and injured at least 18 people and killed five, medical officials said.
The Israeli military said it had hit a militant “carrying out terrorist activities” and that secondary explosions had been identified, indicating the presence of weapons in the area.
The hospital complex is located in Deir Al-Balah, an area crowded with thousands of people displaced by fighting elsewhere in the enclave.
#dead #Israeli #attack #schools #Gaza
– 2024-08-05 15:55:06
