A man cries at a school used as a temporary shelter for displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, after an Israeli attack on August 10, 2024, which killed more than 90 people, as the conflict between Israel and the Hamas movement continues.
Umar Al-Qattaa Afp | Getty Images
More than 100 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli attack on a Gaza school sheltering displaced people, the Hamas-led Gaza government said on Saturday, in an airstrike that the Israeli military said had targeted a Hamas command center.
The attack took place when those who fled the school were performing dawn prayers, causing many casualties, the Hamas media office said in a statement. Medics have not been able to reach all the bodies, he said.
There was no immediate information from the Gaza health authorities.
The Israeli military said in a statement that the air force targeted a command and control center where Hamas commanders and operatives were hiding.
The military said it had taken steps to reduce the risk of harming civilians, “including the proper use of munitions, aerial surveillance, and intelligence information”. It did not immediately comment on reports of casualties from Gaza.
Israel launched an offensive in Gaza, aiming to destroy Hamas after the Islamist group’s fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Since then, nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
Health officials said most of the dead were civilians. Israel, which has lost 329 in Gaza, said at least a third of the Palestinian casualties were fighters.
The United States, Egypt and Qatar are trying to revive the Gaza ceasefire talks, scheduling a new round of talks on Thursday, out of fear of a wider conflict, involving Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah ally. Tehran also supports Hamas.
