Israeli strikes yesterday killed at least 46 people in the Gaza Strip, including 31 in a school-turned-shelter that was struck as people slept, igniting their belongings, local health officials said.
The Israeli military said it targeted militants operating from the school.
Israel renewed its offensive in March after ending a ceasefire with Hamas. It has vowed to seize control of Gaza and keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed or disarmed, and until it returns the remaining 58 hostages, a third of them believed to be alive, from the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war.
Photo: AFP
Israel began allowing a trickle of humanitarian aid into Gaza last week after blocking all food, medicine, fuel or other goods from entering for two-and-a-half months. Aid groups have warned of famine and say the aid that has come in is nowhere near enough to meeting mounting needs.
A new aid system supported by Israel and the US, but rejected by UN agencies and aid groups, was expected to begin operations as soon as yesterday, despite the resignation of the American leading the effort, who said it would not be able to operate independently.
Israel says it plans to seize full control of Gaza and facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of its more than 2 million population, a plan rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community.
Israel’s military campaign has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and internally displaced about 90 percent of its population. Many have fled multiple times.
The strike on the school in the Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City also wounded more than 55 people, said Fahmy Awad, head of the health ministry’s emergency service. He said a father and his five children were among the dead.
He said the school was hit three times while people slept, setting their belongings ablaze. Footage circulating online showed rescuers struggling to extinguish fires and recovering charred remains.
The military said it targeted a militant command-and-control center inside the school that Hamas and Islamic Jihad used to gather intelligence for attacks. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in residential areas.
A separate strike on a home killed 15 members of the same family, including five women and two children, according to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, which received the bodies.
Meanwhile, Palestinian militants fired three projectiles from Gaza, two of which fell short within the territory and a third that was intercepted, the Israeli military said.
Israel plans to roll out a new aid distribution system run by a group known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, made up of former humanitarian, government and military officials, that would set up distribution points guarded by private security firms. Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off assistance, without providing evidence.
The foundation in a statement said that it would begin delivering aid yesterday and would reach 1 million Palestinians by the end of the week.
UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the planned US-backed system, saying it would force even more displacement, fail to meet local needs and violate humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance.
Jake Wood, the American heading the foundation, unexpectedly resigned on Sunday, saying it had become clear that the foundation would not be allowed to operate independently. It is not clear who is funding the group.
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