Israeli forces kill 22 in Gaza, attack schools sheltering displaced Palestinians By Reuters
Written by Nidal al-Mughrabi
Cairo (Reuters) – Israeli forces killed at least 22 Palestinians, mostly in the northern Gaza Strip, on Sunday in airstrikes and other attacks on Gazan shelters, doctors and residents said.
They said at least 11 of the dead were killed in three different Israeli airstrikes on homes in Gaza City, nine were killed in the towns of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia camp and two were killed by a drone in Rafah.
Residents say that dozens of houses were bombed and others were burned in three towns. The Israeli army has been active in the cities for more than two months.
The Israeli military said three houses in Gaza City belonged to the militants who planned the attack. It said measures had been taken to reduce the risk of harming civilians early, including the use of direct weapons and aerial surveillance.
The military released a photo showing the weapons they said were seized from Beit Lahiya, including explosives and a number of bombs.
In Beit Hanoun, the Israeli army surrounded the families sheltering in the Khalil Aweida school before raiding the school and ordering them to go to Gaza City, medics and residents said.
Doctors said that many people died and were injured during the raid on the school while the soldiers detained many men. The number of dead was not yet clear.
The army claimed to have killed dozens of soldiers in the air and on the ground and captured others in Beit Hanoun.
Separately, Israel said its air force struck a command and control center at the Abu Shabak clinic in northern Gaza used by Hamas to store weapons and plan attacks. The Department of Health in Gaza said that a medical center, including a mental health clinic, was destroyed.
The Palestinians accuse Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing to depopulate the northern suburbs in order to create a safe zone. Israel denies this and says the operation targets Hamas terrorists and aims to prevent them from regrouping. The military says it has ordered civilians to leave the fighting areas for safety.
The war began when the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel then launched an air, sea and land offensive that has killed nearly 45,000 people, most of them civilians, according to authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, displaced nearly half of the population and left much in ruins.
A bid by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to reach an agreement has gained momentum in recent weeks, but there has been no news of success.
(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Howard Goller)
