24 dead, 93 wounded in Israeli air strikes on Gaza mosque and school
Israeli military said the strikes targeted Hamas militants it said were operating a command and control centre in the area
Gazan health officials said at least another 20 people had been killed since Saturday night in the north of the Palestinian enclave, after the army sent tanks into areas there for the first time in months, while urging residents to go to what it called safe zones in the south.
The Israeli military said it had conducted “precise strikes on Hamas terrorists” who were operating within command and control centres embedded in Ibn Rushd School and the al-Aqsa Martyrs mosque in the area of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.
Hamas rejects Israeli accusations it uses civilian facilities such as schools, hospitals and mosques for military purposes.
The strikes on the mosque and the school came as the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas approaches its first anniversary, and as Israel has been expanding its actions in Lebanon.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said Israel had struck 27 houses, schools and displacement shelters across Gaza in the past 48 hours.
“These crimes take place amid difficult health conditions in Gaza, and where the remaining hospitals are unable to provide good medical and healthcare as the number of injured and patients increase every day,” it said.
