Written by Nidal Al-Maghribi
CAIRO (Reuters) – At least 24 people were killed and 93 others wounded when Israeli air strikes bombed a mosque and a school housing displaced people in the Gaza Strip early on Sunday, the media office of the Palestinian government in the Gaza Strip, which is run by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), said.
Palestinian health officials said that at least 20 more people had been killed since Saturday evening in northern Gaza after the army sent tanks to areas there for the first time in months, while urging residents to go to what it described as safe areas in the south.
The Israeli army said that it carried out “precise strikes on Hamas terrorists” who were operating inside the command and control centers located in the Ibn Rushd School and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Mosque in the Deir Al-Balah area in central Gaza.
Hamas rejects Israeli accusations of using civilian facilities such as schools, hospitals and mosques for military purposes.
The raids on the mosque and school came as the first anniversary of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip approached, and while Israel was working to expand its operations in Lebanon.
Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage, according to Israeli statistics.
The subsequent Israeli military attack on Gaza killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. It also led to the displacement of almost all of the Strip’s population of 2.3 million people, caused a hunger crisis and led to allegations of genocide appearing in the International Court, which Israel denies.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said that Israel bombed 27 homes, schools and shelters for displaced people across Gaza during the past 48 hours.
She added, “These crimes come in light of the difficult health conditions that the Gaza Strip is experiencing, and the inability of the remaining hospitals to provide good medical and health care, with the number of injured and sick people increasing every day.”
Today, Saturday, the Israeli army issued new evacuation orders in parts of the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, north of Deir al-Balah, forcing hundreds of families to leave their homes. The army statement said that its forces aim to act against Hamas activists who launch attacks from the Strip.
Tanks penetrate northern Gaza
Meanwhile, Israeli tanks rolled into the Beit Lahia and Jabalia areas of the northern Gaza Strip overnight, and aircraft bombed several homes, killing at least 20 people, medics said.
The Israeli army said that its forces surrounded the Jabalia area, the center of its operations.
In one air strike, 10 people were killed in one house, and another five were killed in another strike on a second house, which residents described as one of the worst nights in several months.
The Israeli army said that its forces are working in Jabalia, the largest of the eight historical refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, to fight Hamas activists, dismantle the military infrastructure, and prevent Hamas from reorganizing its ranks.
The Israeli army statement said: “Before the start of the operation, the Air Force attacked dozens of military targets to support the maneuvering forces, including weapons depots, underground structures, terrorist cells, and additional military structures.”
He added, “The operation will continue as necessary, with systematic strikes and the radical destruction of terrorist structures in the region.”
Citizens were directed to head towards the Al-Mawasi Al-Humaniyah area, south of the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian officials and the United Nations say there is no safe place in the Strip, including humanitarian areas that have been struck several times by Israeli missiles.
“The war has returned,” said Raed, 52, from Jabalia, before leaving with his family for Gaza City on Sunday.
He told Reuters via a chat application, “Dozens of explosions caused by air strikes and tank shelling shook the ground and buildings. It seemed as if we were in the first days of the war.”
In response to a question about whether they would go to Al-Mawasi as the army requested, he replied: “As if they did not kill the displaced in the so-called humanitarian areas? We will not leave northern Gaza.”
The Israeli military said Hamas fighters exploited civilian residents in areas designated for humanitarian purposes, a claim Hamas denies.