By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-04-04 02:11:41 | Updated at 2025-04-04 19:06:15
16 hours ago
Israeli air strikes killed at least 100 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including 27 or more sheltering at a school in the north, according to Palestinian medical authorities, in a stepped-up offensive that Israel’s military said was intended to put new pressure on Hamas and eventually expel the militant group.
The bodies of 14 children and five women were recovered from the school in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City and the death toll could rise because some of the 70 wounded sustained critical injuries, Health Ministry spokesman Zaher al-Wahidi said.
More than 30 other Gaza residents were killed in strikes on homes in the nearby neighbourhood of Shijaiyah, he said, citing records at Ahli Hospital.
The Israeli military said it struck a “Hamas command and control centre” in the Gaza City area, and said it took steps to lessen harm to civilians. Israel gave the same reason - striking Hamas militants in a “command and control centre” - for attacking a United Nations building used as a shelter a day earlier, killing at least 17 people.
Hamas condemned the strike on the school, calling it a “heinous massacre” of innocent civilians.
The strikes came as Israel’s military ordered more residents in parts of northern Gaza to move west and south to shelters, warning that it planned to “work with extreme force in your area”. A number of the Palestinians leaving the targeted areas did so on foot, with some carrying their belongings on their backs and others using donkey carts.
