At least 16 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinian families in Al-Nuseirat in central Gaza on Saturday, the territory’s ministry for health and the official Palestinian news agency said.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.
The ministry for health said the attack on the school killed at least 16 people and wounded more than 50.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesman of the Gaza Civil Emergency Service, said the number of dead could rise because many of the wounded were in critical condition.
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The attack on the school meant no place in the enclave was safe for families who leave their houses to seek shelter, he said in a statement.
Al-Nuseirat, one of Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, was the site of stepped-up Israeli bombardment on Saturday. An air strike earlier on a house in the camp killed at least 10 people and wounded many others, according to medics.
In its daily update of people killed in the nearly nine-month-old war, the Gaza ministry for health said Israeli military strikes across the enclave killed at least 29 Palestinians in the past 24 hours and wounded 100 others.
Among those killed in separate air strikes were five local journalists, raising the toll of journalists killed since October 7th to 158, according to the Hamas-led Gaza government media office.
It comes a hopes for a ceasefire rose further after reports that Hamas had given its initial approval of a new US-backed proposal for a phased deal.
Efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza have intensified over recent days, with active shuttle diplomacy among Washington, Israel and Qatar, which is leading mediation efforts from Doha, where the exiled Hamas leadership is based.
Egyptian officials and representatives of the militant Islamist organisation confirmed Hamas had dropped a key demand that Israel commits to a definitive end to the war before any pause in hostilities, Reuters and the Associated Press reported.
Observers said any progress was welcome, but pointed out that multiple rounds of negotiations over more than seven months had so far failed to bring success.
Gaza health authorities say more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive. Israel launched its operation, aimed at eliminating the militant Islamist group Hamas, in response to a Hamas-led assault on Israel in October when 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Israeli forces, which have deepened their incursions into Rafah, in the south of the enclave near the border with Egypt, killed four Palestinian policemen and wounded eight others in an air strike on their vehicle on Saturday, health officials said.
A statement issued by the Hamas-run interior ministry said the four included Fares Abdel-Al, the head of the police force in western Rafah neighbourhood of Tel Al-Sultan.
The Israeli military said forces continued “intelligence-base operations” in Rafah, destroyed several underground structures, seized weapons and equipment, and killed several Palestinian gunmen.
Israel has said its operations in Rafah aim to eradicate the last Hamas armed wing battalions.
The Israeli military said it eliminated a Hamas rocket cell in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza that operated from inside a humanitarian-designated area. It said it carried out a precise strike after taking measures to ensure civilians were unharmed.
Hamas denies Israeli accusations that it uses civilian properties and facilities for military purposes.
The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said fighters attacked Israeli forces in several areas of Gaza with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs. – Reuters
