Written by Nidal Al-Maghribi
CAIRO (Reuters) – Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 17 Palestinians, eight of them in a school housing displaced families in Gaza City, while the Israeli army ordered the evacuation of a hospital in the north, medics said.
Palestinian medics said that eight people, including children, were killed in the Musa bin Nusayr School, which houses displaced families in Gaza City.
The Israeli army said in a statement that the raid targeted Hamas activists working from a command center inside the school. She said that Hamas activists used the place to plan and carry out attacks against Israeli forces.
Also in Gaza City, medics said that four Palestinians were killed when an air strike hit a car.
At least five other Palestinians were killed in two separate air strikes in Rafah and Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
In the town of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, where the army has been operating since October, Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, said the army ordered staff to evacuate the hospital and move the sick and wounded to another hospital in the area.
Abu Safiya said the task was “almost impossible” because the staff did not have ambulances to transport patients.
The Israeli army has been operating in the cities of Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, in addition to the nearby Jabalia camp, for nearly three months.
The Palestinians accused Israel of carrying out “ethnic cleansing” to depopulate those areas and create a buffer zone.
Israel denies this and says that the campaign in the region aims to fight Hamas activists and prevent them from regrouping. It said that its forces had killed hundreds of militants and dismantled the military infrastructure since the start of the operation.
The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad said that they killed many Israeli soldiers in ambushes during the same period.
The mediators have not yet been able to reach a ceasefire between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
Sources close to the talks told Reuters on Thursday that Qatar and Egypt were able to resolve some differences between the warring parties, but sticking points remain.
Israel began its assault on Gaza after Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage, according to Israeli statistics. Israel says about 100 hostages are still being held, but it is unclear how many are still alive.
Authorities in Gaza say the Israeli campaign has resulted in the deaths of more than 45,000 Palestinians and the displacement of most of the population of 2.3 million people. Much of the coastal enclave was reduced to rubble.
(Reporting and writing by Nidal Al-Mughrabi. Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta, Editing by Christian Schmollinger and… Francis (BCBA:) Kerry)
