Israeli shelling of Gaza school kills at least 15
An Israeli strike on a school designated as a shelter for displaced Palestinians has resulted in at least 15 fatalities in central Gaza, according to officials.
The Civil Defence Agency, run by Hamas in Gaza, reported that the al-Mufti school in Nuseirat camp was hit by a barrage of artillery on Sunday, killing entire families and injuring dozens more.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) stated they are investigating the reports.
Earlier, a drone strike reportedly killed five children who were playing at a street corner in northern Gaza.
A spokesperson for civil defence indicated that the attack on the school, which was housing hundreds of displaced individuals from across Gaza, left at least 50 people injured, with more than a dozen fatalities.
In recent days, the primary areas of conflict in Gaza have been in the north, where Israeli forces have intensified their assaults as part of a significant ground operation. Gazan authorities report that hundreds have been killed during this period.
Residents of Beit Hanoun, Jabalia, and Beit Lahiya have reported being isolated from nearby Gaza City, with Israeli tanks spotted on the outskirts of the largest city in the territory.
Hospitals in the region are running low on supplies; however, the World Health Organization announced that a collaborative operation with the Red Cross successfully resupplied two hospitals after nine days of efforts.
The five children in northern Gaza were reportedly killed in an Israeli air strike while playing on a street corner in al-Shati camp.
Graphic images from the scene in the aftermath show the bloodied bodies of what appeared to be young teenage boys.
One of them looked to be clutching several glass marbles in his hand.
According to a report from the scene, told to a BBC correspondent, a drone strike hit a person walking down the street, which killed the children and injured seven other people.
Later images showed the bodies of the five boys wrapped in white shrouds and laid out on the floor side-by-side.
An aunt of one of the boys, named Rami, wrote a moving tribute to him on social media. She said the family had moved to al-Shati after being forced to leave their homes in Jabalia to a “safer area” because of the war.
The IDF has not yet responded to questions about the incident.
Over the last year of war, the Hamas-run health ministry has reported more than 42,000 people killed.
About 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced by the war – many of whom have been forced to move multiple times to escape.
The fighting began after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on northern Israel on 7 October last year – killing about 1,200 people in northern Israel and taking more than 200 hostage in Gaza.
