DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — 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 military said it targeted a Hamas command center in what was once a school.
Thirty other people were injured in the attack on the school in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza, the ministry said in a statement. Most of the victims were women and children. It is not yet known to which hospital the dead and wounded were taken.
The Israeli military said Saturday it had struck Hamas’ command and control center, which was located in a compound that previously served as a school. It said measures had been taken to limit harm to civilians, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance.
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli army has struck several schools, where tens of thousands of Palestinians were displaced from their homes by Israeli offensives and evacuation orders. The conflict has displaced 90% of Palestinians in Gaza, according to UN figures.
The army has repeatedly accused Hamas of operating from Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, including schools, UN offices and hospitals. The conflicting accounts go to the heart of a conflict that has lasted nearly a year.
Earlier this month, an Israeli strike hit A school in the Nuseirat refugee campkilling 14 people, according to Palestinian medical officials. The Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas militants who were planning attacks from inside the school.
In July, Israeli airstrikes hit a girls’ school in Deir al-Balah, killing at least 30 people who had sought refuge there. The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas command center used to direct attacks on its troops and store “large quantities of weapons.”
The war began when Hamas fighters killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on October 7 in an attack on southern Israel. They kidnapped another 250 people and continue to hold 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.
Also on Saturday, Gaza’s health ministry said five of its employees were killed and five others wounded by Israeli fire that hit the ministry’s warehouses in the southern Musbah area.
Tensions rose in the region on Friday after Israeli airstrike In a suburb of Beirut in Lebanon, dozens of people were killed, including civilians and Ibrahim Akilwho commanded Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force. Ahmed Wahbi, another senior commander in the group’s military wing, was also killed.
The strike took place a few hours later Hezbollah The Israeli military launched one of its most intense bombardments on northern Israel in nearly a year of fighting. Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted most of the rockets.
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