ISRAELI STRIKE ON SCHOOL IN GAZA KILLS 30, INJURES OVER 100 AMID ONGOING CONFLICT
Israeli military strike hit a school area in Deir al-Balah, the central Gaza Strip, killing at least 30 and wounding more than 100 others, said the health ministry run by Hamas. The Israeli Defense Forces claimed to target a Hamas command and control center inside the Khadija School—stating that the school facility was used by Hamas for commanding, planning, and implementing these attacks and storing weapons.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, among the killed were civilians, many of them children.. A Gaza’s civil defense service said the school was sheltering displaced people when it was struck.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, 53 people have been killed, and 189 injured, since Saturday morning, as a result of the IDF bombing in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis city in the south. It is part of Israel’s larger campaign, which began at the beginning of the year, resulting in over 39,000 Palestinian casualties, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Violence increased on 7 October as Hamas attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. In response to these attacks, military operations by Israel in Gaza have increased, with every day reporting strikes and military actions against the area.
On the morning of the Deir al-Balah strike, the IDF ordered civilians in southern Khan Younis to evacuate to an “adjusted humanitarian area” in al-Mawasi, a coastal area, and stated that it was preparing for “forceful operations”. According to the IDF, this was due to heavy rocket fire toward Israel from southern Khan Younis and “precise intelligence” regarding Hamas having implanted infrastructure within the humanitarian zone. The military warned that it was too dangerous to stay there.
Following these evacuation orders, the IDF published new maps showing an even smaller humanitarian area in al-Mawasi. The military had earlier reduced the zone on Monday after ordering the evacuation of part of the area ahead of an operation against Palestinian fighters who had regrouped there. Following the new developments, Gaza’s health ministry said Israeli strikes in and around Khan Younis had killed at least 70 more people.
