Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 17 Palestinians, eight of them at a school housing displaced families in Gaza City, local medics said, while the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of a hospital in the northern enclave, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
Palestinian medics said eight people, including children, were killed at the “Musa Bin Nusair“ school, which houses displaced families in Gaza City.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that the strike targeted “Hamas“ fighters operating from a command center built into the school. It said militants had used the site to plan and carry out attacks against Israeli forces. Medics also reported that four Palestinians were killed in Gaza City when an airstrike hit a vehicle. At least five other Palestinians were killed in two separate airstrikes in Rafah and Khan Younis, south of the enclave. In the northern Gaza city of Beit Lahia, where the army has been operating since October, Husam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, said the army had ordered staff to evacuate the hospital and move patients and wounded people to another facility in the area. Abu Safiya said the mission was "almost impossible" as staff did not have ambulances to move patients.
The Israeli army has been operating in the two northern Gaza towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, as well as the nearby Jabaliya camp, for nearly three months.