The Israel military’s stepped up offensive, it says, is intended to pressure Hamas and eventually expel the militant group – but the strike at the school has been branded a “heinous massacre”
Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 100 Palestinians – including 27 or more sheltering at a school.
The attack on the school in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City has been branded a “heinous massacre” by Hamas today. Five women and 14 children were among those killed at the school, while strikes on homes in Shijaiyah have wiped out dozens of other people.
Israel’s military said the stepped-up offensive is intended to pressure Hamas and eventually expel the militant group, stressing it also targeted a “Hamas command and control centre” in the Gaza Strip. It also said it took steps to lessen harm to civilians.
And Israel gave the same reason — striking Hamas militants in a “command and control centre” — for attacking a United Nations building used as a shelter on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people.
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.
One resident, 72-year-old Mohammad Ermana, said: “My wife and I have been walking for three hours covering only one kilometre.” Clasping his wife’s hand, Mohammad added: “I’m searching for shelters every hour now, not every day.”
Israel has issued sweeping evacuation orders for parts of northern Gaza ahead of expected ground operations. The UN humanitarian office said around 280,000 Palestinians have been displaced since Israel ended the ceasefire with Hamas in January.
The fresh evacuation orders came a day after senior government officials said Israel would seize large parts of the Palestinian territory and establish a new security corridor across it. To pressure Hamas, Israel has imposed a monthlong blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle — a tactic that rights groups say is a war crime.
Hamas says it will only release the remaining 59 hostages — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli pullout from Gaza. The group has rejected demands that it lay down its arms or leave the territory.
In March, when Israel resumed fighting in Palestine, more than 235 people – including children – were killed. Israel said it was striking Hamas targets in its heaviest assault in the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January. But Hamas says that fresh wave of attacks breached the ceasefire and put the fate of the hostages in jeopardy.
