At least 28 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a former school building in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Palestinian medical officials said.
The attack on the central city of Deir al-Balah also left dozens of people injured, the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in the sealed-off coastal territory said.
The building was being used to accommodate Gazans who have been internally displaced by the year-old war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants.
Israel’s military said it attacked a Hamas command centre that was located in the building and that measures were taken to reduce the risk to civilians.
The information provided by both sides could not be independently verified.
The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented terrorist attack on southern Israel by Hamas and its allies just over a year ago. Members of the militia and other gunmen killed over 1,200 people and abducted around 250 more into the Gaza Strip.
Since then, Israel has been waging a war in an attempt to destroy Hamas both as a military force and political organization.
The number of Palestinians killed since the beginning of the war has risen to over 42,000, according to the health authorities in Gaza.
Israeli army releases info on strike in Jabalia
Meanwhile, additional information emerged on Thursday on the victims of an Israeli airstike on Wednesday on Jabalia in northern Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that at least 12 of those killed were members of the military wing of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
Some of them had been involved in the massacre in Israel a year ago, including a commander of Hamas’ elite Nukhba unit.
The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported 15 dead in the attack on Wednesday. The target was reportedly the courtyard of a hospital. Tents of displaced people were also hit, it said.
The Israeli army, on the other hand, said the target was a Hamas command centre. This was located in an area of the Gaza Strip that had previously served as a medical facility. The Israeli army claimed that weapons had also been found there.
It spoke of what it called another example of the systematic abuse of the civilian population and civilian infrastructure by terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military said that numerous measures were taken before the attack with precision munitions to reduce the risk of harming civilians.
The information could not be independently verified.
According to reports, fighting was continuing in Jabalia. According to the Israeli army, Hamas has tried to regroup there.
Despite the renewed ground operation by the Israeli army in the area, local residents refused to flee to the south of the coastal area, WAFA reported.
Reports that Israel wants to seize UNRWA headquarters
There were reports on Thursday that Israel wants to seize the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in East Jerusalem.
The Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom and WAFA reported that 1,440 residential units are to be built there. The Israeli land authority responsible did not initially comment on the reports when asked.
The UN relief organization closed its East Jerusalem headquarters in May after a fire on the premises. Israeli residents had set the site on fire twice. This caused significant damage to the outdoor area.
There were also repeated protests against the organization there.
Israel accuses the Palestinian relief organization in the Gaza Strip of being infiltrated by Hamas. Several of the organization’s employees are also said to have been involved in the massacre of October 7, 2023. The UN also concluded that a few employees may have been involved in the attack.
The Israeli parliament is currently in the process of introducing a law that would classify UNRWA as a terrorist organization and, according to media reports, ban its work on Israeli territory. It could be passed shortly.
