The Palestinian Red Crescent said at least 28 have been killed after an Israeli airstrike hit a school in the central Gaza Strip sheltering displaced families. More than 50 others were injured in the attack on the Rufaida al-Aslamia school, which is near the organization’s headquarters in Deir al-Balah.
Images from the scene showed chaotic scenes as onlookers rushed to care for the injured amidst clouds of smoke and dust. Several children were seen receiving treatment at the local al-Aqsa hospital.
The Israeli military maintained that the attack had been a “surgical” operation directed at Hamas fighters presumed to work out of a “command-and-control center” from the school. The military claimed taking precautions to prevent civilian injuries and blamed Hamas for abuse of civilian infrastructure, charges Hamas has always denied.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza confirmed 28 deaths and denounced the attack as a “new massacre” carried out by the Israeli military.
Many schools are functioning as shelters for 1.9 million Palestinians who have been displaced in the current war in Gaza, a year since the outbreak of the war. The Israeli military operation is meant to weed out Hamas from what it described as an unprecedented attack by the group on southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 others on Oct. 7, 2023.
Since then, more than 42,060 people are reported to have lost their lives in Gaza, its health ministry reports.
