Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Twenty-six people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on a mosque and school where Palestinians were displaced in the center of the territory.
According to the Ministry of Health, dozens of people were also injured in strikes that occurred at Ibn Rushd school and Al-Aqsa Martyrs mosque in Deir al-Balah early Sunday morning.
The Israeli military said it targeted Hamas militants operating in “command and control” centers at these locations.
Videos verified by the BBC from the mosque showed bodies and blood on the ground amid rubble, while footage from the scene showed the building on fire and a man being pulled out on a stretcher.
Previously, the civil defense agency run by Hamas said 21 people were killed and a large number injured in the attack on the mosque, according to AFP news agency.
Sunday strike occurred almost exactly one year to the day since October 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Since then, 41,870 Palestinians have been killed and more than 97,000 injured in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
According to the United Nations, which uses figures from Gaza’s health ministry and considers them reliable, 187 people were killed in Gaza between September 30 and October 4 alone.
In a statement on the attack on the mosque, Hamas accused Israel of “bombing people’s homes and destroying them on top of them, leading to the deaths and injuries of dozens of people”.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said “prior to the attack, many steps were taken to reduce the risk of harm to civilians, including the use of precision weapons, aerial surveillance and intelligence.” supplementary report.”
The IDF accused Hamas of “using civil organizations and people as shields for terrorist acts”.
Hamas denies using schools and other civilian sites for military purposes.
Elsewhere in Gaza, Israeli troops began laying siege to Jabalia in the north overnight in response to what the IDF said was an attempt by Hamas to rebuild the area.
The army said it attacked “dozens of military targets” before and during the ground campaign.
The IDF warned the public that northern Gaza “is still considered a dangerous combat zone” and released a new map on Sunday showing possible evacuation areas in the north.
They also said they had expanded the humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza.
Both the mosque and the school attacked on Sunday were located in humanitarian zones.
The IDF said it had reopened two evacuation routes from the north to reach the area.
Israel does not allow international journalists from media organizations, including the BBC, independent access to Gaza, making it difficult to verify facts on the ground.
