Israeli air raid on Gaza City school-turned-shelter kills 10 people

An Israeli strike on a school where displaced Palestinians were sheltering in Gaza City’s Shati refugee camp has killed 10 people and wounded at least 20 others, Palestinian medics said.

Rescue operations were under way at the UN-run Abu Assi school in northern Gaza on Saturday, health officials said.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said that according to locals and witnesses, most of the people sheltering in the school were displaced from other parts of Gaza.

“Let me remind you there is only one hospital functioning in the city … and we know the health situation in hospitals in Gaza has been horrible … so it is difficult to help the injured,” she said.

Palestinian health officials said at least 30 people were killed by Israeli military strikes across the enclave on Saturday.

“Israeli soldiers have surrounded and imposed a strict blockade on Palestinians in Beit Lahiya, Jabalia and Beit Hanoon, where Palestinians are unable to evacuate their besieged homes,” Khoudary said.

“We have received many appeals from people in Beit Lahiya who say they’re stuck and need rescuing. They have no food, water or medical aid,” she noted.

“Other than air strikes and continuing artillery shelling, the military has extensively deployed quadcopters that Israeli forces use to fire live ammunition at Palestinians and kill them in different areas across the Gaza Strip,” Khoudary added.

Later on Saturday, the Israeli military reported that two rockets fired at Israel from the northern Gaza Strip were intercepted.

The launches show the ability of Palestinian fighters to fire rockets into Israel despite more than 13 months of an aerial and ground offensive that turned vast land in the enclave into wasteland and displaced most of the 2.3 million population.

Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed at least 43,799 Palestinians and wounded 103,601 since October 7, 2023. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day, and more than 200 were taken captive.