At least 15 Palestinians were injured early on Thursday by Israeli shelling of a mosque near a northern Gaza Strip united Nations school where Palestinians were taking refuge.
Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qodra said 15 people were injured by Israeli artillery shelling of Omar Ibn al-Khattab mosque near an UNRWA school northern the Gaza Strip.
"Most of the victims are children and women who were taking refuge at the school," al-Qodra told Anadolu Agency.
He said their injuries ranged between "moderate" and "dangerous".
The artillery shelling also caused damage to the United Nations school, according to eyewitnesses.
Around 15 Palestinians were killed and 100 others injured early on Wednesday when the Israeli army shelled a northern Gaza Strip UNRWA school.
Sixteen other Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes on a third UNRWA school last week, the event that sent United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon denouncing the targeting of the schools of his organization in the Gaza Strip.
The schools of the United Nations have turned into refugee camps for the Palestinians of Gaza, which has been suffering incessant Israeli attacks since July 7.
Israel has been pounding the Gaza Strip since July 7 with fierce aerial, naval and ground bombardments with the ostensible aim of halting rocket fire from the strip, leaving 1363 dead and 7680 others injured so far.
The vast majority of the dead and injured victims are civilians: children, women and elderly people.
Gaza-based resistance factions, meanwhile, have continued to fire rocket at Israeli cities in response to relentless Israeli bombardments.
According to official Israeli figures, 53 Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed since the hostilities began.
Israel's military operation, dubbed operation "Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populate Gaza Strip – which is home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – within the last six years.
In 2008/9, over 1500 Palestinians were killed in Israel's three-week-long operation "Cast Lead."
By Mustafa Haboosh
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en
