Israeli strike on school kills at least 22 people: Gaza Health Ministry

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Published Sep 21, 2024  •  2 minute read

Palestinians transport a body from the site of an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood on Sept. 21, 2024. Photo by OMAR AL-QATTAA /AFP via Getty Images

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike on a school in northern Gaza on Saturday killed at least 22 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, while the Israeli army said it targeted a Hamas’ command centre in what used to be a school.

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Another 30 were wounded in the strike on the school in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City, the ministry said in a statement. Most of the casualties were women and children, it said.

The Israeli army said earlier Saturday it struck Hamas’ “command and control centre, which was embedded inside a compound that previously served” as a school. It said steps were taken to limit harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance.

“The Hamas terrorist organization systematically violates international law by operating from inside civilian infrastructure,” the army said, an accusation it has repeatedly made.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, the Israeli army has struck a number of schools, packed with tens of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes by Israeli offensives and evacuation orders. The conflict has left 90% of Palestinians in Gaza displaced, according to figures from the United Nations.

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The military has continually accused Hamas of operating from within civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including schools, UN facilities and hospitals.

Earlier this month, an Israeli strike hit a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing 14, according to Palestinian medical officials. The Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas militants planning attacks from inside the school.

In July, Israeli airstrikes hit a girls’ school in Deir al-Balah, killing at least 30 people sheltering inside. Israel’s military said it targeted a Hamas command centre used to direct attacks against its troops and store “large quantities of weapons.”

The war began when Hamas-led fighters killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in an Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. They abducted another 250 people and are still holding around 100 hostages. Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between fighters and civilians.

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Also Saturday, the Gaza Health Ministry said five of its workers were killed and five others injured by Israeli fire that struck the ministry’s warehouses in the southern Musbah area.

Tensions soared in the region on Friday after an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb in Lebanon killed 31 people, including civilians and Ibrahim Akil, who was in charge of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force. Also killed was Ahmed Wahbi, another senior commander in the group’s military wing.

The strike came hours after Hezbollah launched one of its most intense bombardments of northern Israel in nearly a year of fighting. Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system intercepted most of the rockets.

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