Israeli strikes killed at least 19 Palestinians including children at a school in Jabalia, northern Gaza, that is sheltering displaced people, according to a health ministry official.
Dozens were also injured in the strike, said the official, Medhat Abbas, who added: ‘There is no water to extinguish the fire. There is nothing.’
Casualties were taken on carts pulled by animals, carried or picked up in cars at the site of the bombing to be taken to the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital, where many were seen lying on the floor of the overwhelmed emergency department.
The attack took place at the Abu Hussein School run by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), where displaced Palestinians have been sheltering in tents, according to reports.
The Israeli military has claimed that there were dozens of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists at the site at the time of the attack.
Footage shows fires in the camp, set up in a former school in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed in a statement that an air force aircraft had attacked a short time ago based on intelligence.
It said the attack was carried out in ‘a targeted and precise manner’ on a command and control complex in the grounds of the former school.
Hamas has denied using the UNRWA school for fighting purposes.
Israeli tanks have also rolled into Jabalia, where Palestinians and UN officials expressed alarm over shortages of food and medicine.
Meanwhile Israeli airstrikes killed 11 Palestinians in Gaza City on Thursday, medics said.
The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 42,000 people during the year-long war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
