An Israeli airstrike on a United Nations-operated school in central Gaza overnight resulted in the deaths of dozens of individuals, according to authorities.
TThe United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which operated the school, was housing displaced people in the Nuseirat refugee camp at the time of the incident, according to the media office of the Gaza government.
The strike killed at least 45 people, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. On Thursday morning, officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital warned that the number of casualties could increase as more victims arrived.
The Israeli military confirmed that it carried out the airstrike, claiming that it targeted a Hamas compound inside the school.
Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, the spokesperson for the Israeli military, stated that the strike targeted 20 to 30 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants who were utilizing the facilities to prepare and carry out attacks against Israeli forces. Lerner added that the militants involved in the October 7 Israel attacks were killed.
Following Tuesday’s intensification of ground and air assaults in the strip’s center, the IDF launched Thursday’s attack.
In central Gaza, Palestinians are saying that the intensity and frequency of Israeli strikes in the past week have felt similar to the beginning of the war.
