Israeli forces attacked a school near Deir al-Balah, a city in central Gaza, killing at least 30 Palestinians and wounding more than 100, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Telegram that a Hamas command and control center was installed inside Khadija School.
The IDF added that Hamas used the complex as a hideout to direct and plan attacks as well as store weapons.
Gaza’s health ministry said footage showed the victims were civilians and most were children. The BBC has verified a video showing children among the injured.
United States Environmental Protection AgencyGaza’s civil defence authority said the school was sheltering displaced people. Hamas condemned the attack in a statement on Telegram, saying that “displaced, sick and injured people, mostly women and children” had been killed.
Verified video from the scene shows a chaotic scene, with people running around a building covered in rubble. Men are seen holding two bloodied children in their arms while a woman holds another child, and a group of people carry an injured man on a stretcher. A body lies on the ground covered with a blanket.
The IDF said that ahead of the airstrike, it had taken steps to minimize the risk to civilians “including the use of appropriate ammunition, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence.”
The Gaza Health Ministry said 53 people have been killed and 189 wounded since Saturday morning due to IDF bombing in Deir al-Balah and the southern city of Khan Younis.
The airstrike comes as Israel continues its months-long military campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.
The Deir al-Balah airstrike was reported as the IDF ordered civilians on Saturday morning in areas south of Khan Younis to evacuate to a “modified humanitarian area” in al-Mawasi, an area along the coast.
The IDF said it was about to “take a strong action” after reports of “significant” rocket fire into Israel from south of Khan Younis and “precise intelligence indicating that Hamas has embedded” infrastructure in the humanitarian zone. The Israeli military warned civilians that “remaining in the area has become dangerous”.
The IDF has released a map showing the humanitarian zone has shrunk further in al-Mawasi. The military reduced the area on Monday when it ordered a partial evacuation of the humanitarian zone ahead of an operation against Palestinian militants who appeared to have regrouped there.
Following the evacuation order, Gaza Health Ministry speak At least 70 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes around Khan Younis.
Also on Saturday in the West Bank, a 17-year-old boy was killed and nine people were injured in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus as a result of Israeli military action, the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry said.
The BBC has contacted the IDF about these reports.
