17 killed in Israeli strike on school-turned-shelter in Gaza, Palestinian officials say

Schools across Gaza have been turned into shelters after around 90% of the enclave's population has been displaced since 7 October last year.

Thursday 24 October 2024 15:28, UK

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An Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza has killed 17 people, including children, Palestinian officials have said.

At least 42 people were also injured in the attack at the Nuseirat camp, doctors have told Associated Press.

Among the dead were seven children, as young as 11 months old, and three women, according to the Awda Hospital, which received the casualties.

It comes as the number of Palestinians killed has risen to 42,847, with 100,544 injured, in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since 7 October 2023, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had hit a Hamas command centre in a compound formerly used as a school, in the area.

Graphic images from the aftermath of the attack show Palestinians trying to clear up, removing dead bodies from destroyed buildings.

This is not the first time that the Nuseirat camp, in central Gaza, has suffered such a strike and earlier this year, in April, 19 people were killed according to reports from the Palestine News Agency.

Israeli strikes on school-turned-shelters have been carried out elsewhere in the enclave as well, as it says it is targeting Hamas militants.

This comes as UN humanitarian officials are reporting "harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction" in northern Gaza as Israel wages another major operation there.

Months of ceasefire negotiations brokered by the US, Egypt and Qatar, staggered to a halt over the summer.

Meanwhile, the fighting has expanded to Lebanon where Israel launched a ground offensive more than three weeks ago, after almost a year of trading fire with the Hezbollah militant group.

The latest round of conflict was kickstarted after the 7 October attack last year which claimed 1,200 lives and saw around 250 people taken hostage.

The war has so far displaced around 90% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people - often multiple times.

Hundreds of thousands of people are crammed into tent camps along the coast after entire neighbourhoods in many areas have been pounded to rubble.

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