Israeli Strike On College Kills At Least 22 Individuals: Gaza Health Ministry

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli strike on a faculty in northern Gaza on Saturday killed not less than 22 folks, in response to the Gaza Health Ministry, whereas the Israeli military stated it focused a Hamas’ command heart in what was a faculty.

One other 30 have been wounded within the strike on the college within the Zeitoun space of Gaza Metropolis, the ministry stated in a press release. A lot of the casualties have been girls and kids, it stated.

The Israeli military stated earlier Saturday it struck Hamas’ “command and control center, which was embedded inside a compound that previously served” as a faculty. It stated steps have been taken to restrict harming civilians, together with using exact munitions and aerial surveillance.

“The Hamas terrorist organization systematically violates international law by operating from inside civilian infrastructure,” the military stated, an accusation it has repeatedly made.

For the reason that outbreak of the Israel-Hamas warfare, the Israeli military has struck quite a few faculties, filled with tens of hundreds of Palestinians pushed from their properties by Israeli offensives and evacuation orders. The battle has left 90% of Palestinians in Gaza displaced, in response to figures from the United Nations.

The army has frequently accused Hamas of working from inside civilian infrastructure in Gaza, together with faculties, U.N. amenities and hospitals.

Earlier this month, an Israeli strike hit a faculty within the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing 14, in response to Palestinian medical officers. The Israeli army stated it was focusing on Hamas militants planning assaults from inside the college.

In July, Israeli airstrikes hit a women’ college in Deir al-Balah, killing not less than 30 folks sheltering inside. Israel’s army stated it focused a Hamas command heart used to direct assaults in opposition to its troops and retailer “large quantities of weapons.”

The warfare started when Hamas-led fighters killed some 1,200 folks, largely civilians, in an Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel. They kidnapped one other 250 folks and are nonetheless holding round 100 hostages. Israel’s marketing campaign in Gaza has killed not less than 41,000 Palestinians, in response to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between fighters and civilians.

Additionally Saturday, the Gaza Health Ministry stated 5 of its employees have been killed and 5 others injured by Israeli hearth that struck the ministry’s warehouses within the southern Musbah space.

Tensions soared within the area on Friday after an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb in Lebanon killed 31 folks, together with civilians and Ibrahim Akil, who was accountable for Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Drive. Additionally killed was Ahmed Wahbi, one other senior commander within the group’s army wing.

The strike got here hours after Hezbollah launched one in all its most intense bombardments of northern Israel in practically a yr of combating. Israel’s Iron Dome missile protection system intercepted a lot of the rockets.