At least 30 dead and over 100 injured in Israeli airstrike on Gaza school, Palestinian officials say

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, at least 30 people were killed and more than 100 injured in an Israeli air strike on a school in Deir-al Balah in the center of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military launched the attack to destroy a Hamas command and control center within the complex.

Most of the victims from the school who arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital after the attack were women and children, said Dr. Khalil Al-Daqran, a spokesman for the hospital. More than 4,000 displaced people have been housed at the school, the Palestinian Civil Defense said.

The attack came shortly after the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for the further south town of Khan Younis, where Israel launched a new offensive earlier this week that killed dozens of Palestinians.

Residents of the southern neighborhoods were told to leave the area after being warned that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would “operate with force” in the area.

Fighting in Gaza has been going on for months, and the renewed offensive shows how difficult it is for Israel to achieve its goal of destroying Hamas. Israel said about 100 militants were killed in the recent fighting.

According to United Nations estimates, around 150,000 people fled Khan Younis on Monday alone, adding to the pressure on scarce food and water supplies as well as on shelter options.

The Israeli military signaled on Telegram that another campaign was imminent. They were “about to take violent action against the terrorist organizations and therefore call on the remaining population in the southern neighborhoods of Khan Yunis to temporarily evacuate to the established humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi.”

The statement said the move was in response to “significant terrorist activities and rocket fire” from the south of Khan Younis, adding that the site, previously defined as a humanitarian zone, would be “adapted.”

Al-Mawasi has been the target of repeated Israeli attacks, including an attack on July 14 that reportedly killed 90 people and injured 300 others.

An eyewitness in Khan Younis told CNN she woke up “to the screams” of people fleeing the area following evacuation orders. She heard explosions and saw flares in the sky.

Israel launched its military offensive in the Gaza Strip on October 7 after Hamas attacked southern Israel. According to Israeli authorities, at least 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others abducted.

According to the local health ministry, 39,090 Palestinians have been killed and another 90,147 injured by Israeli military operations in Gaza since then. According to the UN, by the beginning of July almost 2 million people had been displaced in Gaza – almost the entire population.

Aid organizations operating in the Gaza Strip had previously warned that new evacuation orders would make the delivery of emergency rations even more difficult.

“The people of Gaza are exhausted, living in inhumane conditions and have no security whatsoever,” the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East wrote on Monday on X.

On Thursday, Israeli forces said they had recovered the bodies of five Israeli hostages the previous day from a tunnel in an area of ​​Khan Younis that they had previously designated as a “humanitarian area.”

Despite the fighting, U.S. and Israeli officials this week expressed optimism that a ceasefire and hostage agreement were possible.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that the various parties were “within the 10-yard line and heading toward the goal line.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he expected to send a negotiating team to Rome for talks next week.

Netanyahu was in Washington this week and met with the likely Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, who urged him to reach an agreement.

“As I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to finalize this agreement,” Harris said. “To all those calling for a ceasefire and to all those longing for peace, I see you and I hear you.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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