At least 28 Palestinians, including children, have died in an Israeli strike on yet another school-turned-shelter in the northern Gaza Strip, a health official has said.
This is as Israeli forces press on with their ground assault in the area.
Thursday’s attack on the ravaged area wounded 160 others, according to the Palestinian health official, Medhat Abbas.
Israeli forces have besieged the area for nearly two weeks, following the forces renewed ground offensive.
“There is no water to extinguish the fire. There is nothing. This is a massacre,” Abbas said.
“Civilians and children are being killed, burned under fire.”
The Israeli military, without substantial evidence, said the strike targeted fighters from Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad groups.
It claimed the fighters operated from within the Abu Hussein School in Jabalia and had been serving as a shelter for displaced people.
Hamas strongly denied the claim that it was using the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)–run school for fighting purposes.
It said, in a statement, that the allegations were “nothing but lies”, adding this was “a systematic policy of the enemy to justify its crime”.
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Earlier on Thursday, Palestinian health officials said at least 11 Palestinians died in two separate Israeli strikes in Gaza City.
Several others also died in central and southern Gaza areas.
Footage circulated by Palestinian media of the Abu Hussein School showed smoke coming from tents that caught fire.
Many displaced people evacuated casualties, including children, to ambulances.
Residents of Jabalia said Israeli forces blew up clusters of houses by firing from the air, from tanks. The forces also placed bombs in buildings and detonated them remotely.
The area has been a focus for the Israeli military for the past two weeks.
UN estimates that some 400,000 people are trapped in northern Gaza and have been unable to leave due to intense bombardment, Israeli snipers and ground troops.
Since the latest incursion, Israeli forces have completely sealed off northern Gaza, including Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoon.
They also cut off the region allowing in no food, drink, or medicine. Local officials say people are starving.
Doctors at the Kamal Adwan, al-Awda and Indonesian hospitals have called for a humanitarian corridor.
The doctors have refused to leave their patients despite evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military. (Al Jazeera)
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