Scores of Gazan women and children were among at least 36 people killed in an Israeli strike that targeted a school housing war-displaced people, local authorities said Monday.
The strike targeted Fahmi al-Jarjawi School, where families had been seeking refuge from ongoing Israeli bombardments, said Al-Aqsa TV and other local sources, describing the incident as a “massacre.”
A fire swept through the tents on the school compound, located in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City, following the bombing.
The strike also wounded more than 55 people, said Fahmy Awad, head of the ministry’s emergency service. He said a father and his five children were among the dead.
He said the school was hit three times while people slept, setting their belongings ablaze.
Eyewitness videos circulated online showing burned bodies, many of them children, and others crying out as flames consumed their surroundings.
“Charred corpses and the screams of displaced people engulfed in flames were seen and heard from the site,” one report said.Israel stepped up its military operations in the enclave in early May, saying it is seeking to eliminate Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and bring back the remaining hostages who were seized in October 2023.
The Israeli military said yesterday that Israeli forces struck an alleged Hamas control center overnight on Sunday in Gaza, targeting a facility that was used to “plan and gather intelligence in order to execute… attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops.”
Despite mounting international pressure that pushed Israel to lift a blockade on aid supplies in the face of warnings of looming famine, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that Israel would control the whole of Gaza.
Israel has taken control of around 77% of the enclave either through its ground forces or evacuation orders and bombardments that keep residents away from their homes, Gaza’s media office said.
Israel began allowing a trickle of humanitarian aid into Gaza last week after blocking all food, medicine, fuel or other goods from entering for 2 1/2 months.
Aid groups have warned of famine and say the aid that has come in is nowhere near enough to meet mounting needs.
New aid system
A new aid system supported by Israel and the United States but rejected by U.N. agencies and aid groups is expected to begin operations as soon Monday, despite the resignation of the American leading the effort, who said it would not be able to operate independently.
Israel says it plans to seize full control of Gaza and facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of its over 2 million population, a plan rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community.
Hamas warned Palestinians yesterday not to cooperate with the new aid system, saying it is aimed at furthering those objectives.
Israel’s military campaign has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and internally displaced some 90% of its population. Many have fled multiple times.
In a separate development, ultranationalist Israelis gathered in Jerusalem for an annual procession marking Israel’s 1967 conquest of the city’s eastern sector. Some protesters chanted “Death to Arabs” and harassed Palestinian residents.
A small group, including a member of parliament, broke into the East Jerusalem compound of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, which Israel has banned.
The compound has been mostly empty since January, when staff were asked to stay away for security reasons. The U.N. says it has not vacated the compound and that it is protected under international law.
There was no immediate comment from Israeli police.
More killings in Jabalia
A separate strike on a home in Jabalia in northern Gaza killed 16 members of the same family, including five women and two children, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies.
Palestinian resistance groups, meanwhile, fired three projectiles from Gaza, two of which fell short within the territory and a third that was intercepted, according to the Israeli military.
Israel plans to roll out a new aid distribution system run by a group known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, made up of former humanitarian, government and military officials, that would set up distribution points guarded by private security firms.
Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off assistance, without providing evidence. The foundation said in a statement that it would begin delivering aid yesterday and would reach a million Palestinians – around half of Gaza’s population – by the end of the week.
U.N. agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the planned U.S.-backed system, saying it would force even more displacement, fail to meet local needs and violate humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance. They also say there is no evidence of systematic diversion of aid by the resistance groups.
Jake Wood, the American heading the foundation, unexpectedly resigned Sunday, saying it had become clear that the foundation would not be allowed to operate independently. It’s not clear who is funding the group.
The war was triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led incursion that caused around 1,200 deaths and captured 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s genocidal war, in comparison, has devastated Gaza, displacing nearly all its residents and killing nearly 54,000 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza health authorities.
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