Palestinians say Israeli strike kills 22 in shelter, says military Reuters
By Dawoud Abu Alkas and Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA/CAIRO (Reuters) – Palestinians said an Israeli strike killed at least 22 people at a school sheltering homeless people south of Gaza City on Saturday, while the Israeli military said the attack was aimed at the Hamas terror group.
The Department of Health in Gaza said most of those killed were women and children. The Hamas-affiliated state media office said 13 children and six women were among the dead.
The military said it struck a Hamas-focused center that previously served as a school, repeating allegations that the group is using public facilities for military purposes. Hamas denies that.
Reuters photos of the area showed blown-out walls, smashed furniture and burnt, and holes in the roof of the room as people tried to rescue their belongings.
“The women and their children were sitting in the school playground, the children were playing, and suddenly two rockets were fired,” said one eyewitness, Said Al-Malahi.
Some of the dead were wrapped in blankets and carried on donkey carts as ambulances transferred other bodies.
“I couldn't, I didn't see any injured men, women and children, let the Arab countries be happy, let them be happy and applaud (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and the United States of America. America,” said one eyewitness, Ahmed Azzam, angry that the region's neighbors were not taking a hard line against Israel.
MEDICINES HAVE BEEN KILL
In Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, Gaza's health minister said four health workers were killed in an Israeli strike on warehouses. Ambulance crews could not reach the dead or treat the injured, it added.
In a statement, the Israeli army said the forces, which have been operating in Rafah since May, have killed scores of soldiers in recent weeks and destroyed military infrastructure and tunnels.
Israel's need to maintain control of the southern border between Rafah and Egypt has been a common issue in international efforts to conclude a ceasefire.
Hamas says it is focused on an agreement to end the war and withdraw Israeli troops from Gaza, while Israel says the war can only end if Hamas is eliminated. Another sticking point was the details of the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
This decades-long war between Israel and Palestine began on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting about 250 people, according to Israeli statistics.
Israel's subsequent offensive in the area has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, and displaced nearly all of the 2.3 million people.
(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Additional reporting by Dawoud Abu Alkas in Gaza, Adam Makary in Cairo and Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Andrew Cawthorne)
