The health ministry run by Hamas in Gaza says 26 people were killed during an Israeli airstrike on a mosque and a Palestinian school in the center of the area.
Dozens of people were also injured in the strikes that attacked the Ibn Rushd school and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs mosque in Deir al-Balah early Sunday, according to the health ministry.
The Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas terrorists operating inside “command and control” centers in the areas.
Videos confirmed by the BBC at the mosque showed bodies and blood on the ground amid the rubble, while footage from the school showed the building burning and a man being carried out on a stretcher.
Earlier, the Hamas-affiliated civil defense unit said 21 people were killed and dozens were injured in the attack on the mosque, according to the AFP news agency.
Sunday strikes it happened almost one year from October 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Since then, 41,870 Palestinians have been killed and more than 97,000 injured in Gaza, according to the health ministry. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
According to the United Nations, which uses statistics from the health service in Gaza and considers them reliable, 187 people were killed in Gaza from September 30 to October 4 alone.
In a statement about the mosque strike, Hamas accused Israel of “bombing the homes of civilians and collapsing them over their heads, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries”.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that “before the attack many measures were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including the use of precision weapons, aerial surveillance and increased intelligence.”
The IDF accused Hamas of “exploiting public institutions and society as human shields for acts of terrorism”.
Hamas has denied using schools and other public facilities for military purposes.
Elsewhere in Gaza, Israeli forces began encircling Jabalia in the north overnight in response to what the IDF said were Hamas reconstruction efforts in the area.
The military said it attacked “a number of military targets” before and during the ground operation.
The IDF warned the public that northern Gaza is “still considered a dangerous area for fighting” and published a new map on Sunday showing areas of possible withdrawal from the north.
It also said it has expanded the humanitarian aid zone in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza.
Both the mosque and the school that was hit on Sunday are in the humanitarian zone.
The IDF said it has reopened two exit routes from the north to reach the area.
Israel does not allow international journalists from media organizations, including the BBC, independent access to Gaza, making it difficult to verify the facts on the ground.
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