At least 34 killed in Israeli strikes on 2 schools sheltering displaced Gazans

GAZA CITY, Palestine

At least 34 people were killed Thursday in Israeli airstrikes on two schools sheltering displaced civilians in Gaza City, according to authorities.

The Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza said 31 Palestinians, including children and women, were killed in an airstrike that targeted the Dar Al-Arqam School, where hundreds of civilians have taken refuge in the Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City.

It reported that six victims are missing, with dozens injured.

The statement noted that “the missing has no bodies following the bombing.”

Gaza’s Media Office said earlier that 29 Palestinians, including 18 children and one woman, were killed, and more than 100 injured in the attack.

The Israeli army acknowledged the attack and claimed that “Hamas elements used the command-and-control center (the school) to plan and execute attacks against Israeli civilians and troops.”

The military asserted that before the strike, “numerous steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians including the use of aerial surveillance and additional intelligence,” though it provided no evidence to support those claims.

The Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital received the bodies of three Palestinians who were killed in an airstrike on the Fahd Al-Sabah School, which shelters hundreds of displaced residents, medical sources told Anadolu.

The attacks were the latest in a renewed assault that has killed more than 1,160 victims and injured over 2,700 since March 18, shattering the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in January between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

Israel has systematically targeted civilian facilities, including schools, hospitals, and places of worship, amid its offensive on Gaza.

Under the rules of war, targeting civilian facilities can constitute a war crime.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Sunday to escalate attacks on Gaza amid efforts to implement US President Donald Trump's plan to displace Palestinians from the enclave.

More than 50,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israel's military onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.