Israeli forces attacked a school near Deir al-Balah, a city in central Gaza, killing at least 30 Palestinians and wounding more than 100, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Telegram that a command center with Hamas was installed inside the Khadija School.
The IDF added that Hamas used the compound as a hideout to direct and plan attacks and store weapons.
The Department of Health in Gaza said that the video shows that the victims were just people and most of them were children. The BBC has confirmed a video showing children among the injured.
Gaza’s civil defense department said the school is sheltering homeless people. Hamas condemned the attack in a statement on Telegram, saying “displaced, sick and injured people, most of them women and children” were killed.
Confirmed video from the scene shows a chaotic scene, with people running around a yard covered in debris. Men carry two bloody children in their arms while a woman hugs another, and a group carries a wounded man on a stretcher. The body is lying on the ground covered with a blanket.
The IDF said before the strike it had taken measures to reduce the risk to civilians “including the use of appropriate weapons, aerial surveillance and increased intelligence”.
The Gaza Health Ministry said 53 people were killed and 189 injured since Saturday morning due to IDF bombing in Deir al-Balah and the southern town of Khan Younis.
The strike comes as Israel continues its months-long military campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Deir al-Balah strike It was reported that the IDF ordered residents on Saturday morning in the southern parts of Khan Younis to evacuate to a “prepared humanitarian area” in al-Mawasi, a coastal district.
The IDF said it would act “forcefully” after reporting “significant” rocket fire into Israel from south of Khan Younis and “accurate intelligence indicating that Hamas has embedded” infrastructure in the humanitarian area. The Israeli army warned the citizens that “staying in this area is dangerous”.
The IDF released maps showing another reduced aid zone in al-Mawasi. The army retreated from the entire area on Monday when it ordered the evacuation of part of the civilian area ahead of an operation against Palestinian militants who had apparently gathered there.
After the evacuation orders, the health department in Gaza said at least 70 people were killed by Israeli strikes near Khan Younis.
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