An Israeli airstrike on a school in northern Gaza on Saturday resulted in at least 22 deaths. Another 30 individuals were injured in the attack on the school located in Gaza City’s Zeitoun area, with most of the victims being women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. In response, the Israeli army stated that the strike targeted a Hamas command and control center that had been established within a building that had formerly functioned as a school. The military emphasised that precautions were taken to minimise civilian casualties by using precision munitions and conducting aerial surveillance.
“The Hamas terrorist organisation systematically violates international law by operating from inside civilian infrastructure,” the army said, as per news agency AP.
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Ever since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict, the Israeli military has carried out strikes on several schools that were housing tens of thousands of Palestinians displaced by military offensives and evacuation orders. According to U.N. estimates, 90 per cent of Gaza’s Palestinian population has been displaced as a result of the war.
The Israeli military has consistently blamed Hamas for using civilian infrastructure, such as schools, U.N. facilities, and hospitals, for military operations.
Earlier this month, an Israeli airstrike on a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp killed 14 people. Palestinian medical officials reported the deaths, while the Israeli military stated that Hamas militants planning attacks were the intended targets.
In July, Israeli airstrikes on a girls’ school in Deir al-Balah killed over 30 people sheltering inside. The military said the strike was aimed at a Hamas command center used to direct attacks against its troops and store “large quantities of weapons.”
Tensions Soar In Gaza
On Saturday, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that five of its workers were killed and five others injured when Israeli fire hit the warehouses of the ministry in the southern Musbah area.
Tensions escalated in the region on Friday after an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb in Lebanon that killed 31 people, including civilians. Among the dead were Ibrahim Akil, leader of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, and Ahmed Wahbi, a senior commander in the group’s military wing.
The airstrike took place just hours after Hezbollah launched one of its heaviest bombardments of northern Israel in nearly a year. Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted the majority of the rockets.