A man cries inside a school used as a temporary shelter for displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike on August 10, 2024, which killed more than 90 people, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues.
Omar Al-Qatta | AFP | Getty Images
The Hamas-run Gaza government said on Saturday that more than 100 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli air strike on a Gaza school housing displaced people, a raid that the Israeli military said targeted a Hamas command center.
The Hamas media office said in a statement that the airstrikes targeted the school while worshipers were performing the dawn prayer, resulting in many casualties. It added that paramedics have not yet been able to reach all the bodies.
There was no immediate information from health authorities in Gaza.
The Israeli army said in a statement that its air force targeted a command and control center where Hamas leaders and activists were hiding.
The military said it had taken steps to reduce the risk of harm to civilians, “including the use of precision munitions, aerial surveillance and intelligence.” The military did not immediately comment on the reports of casualties from Gaza.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza with the aim of eliminating Hamas after the Islamist group's fighters stormed southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli statistics.
Since then, nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Health officials say most of the dead are civilians. Israel, which has lost 329 people in Gaza, says at least a third of the Palestinian dead were combatants.
The United States, Egypt and Qatar are trying to revive Gaza ceasefire talks, setting a new round of negotiations for Thursday, amid growing fears of a wider conflict involving Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah. Tehran also backs Hamas.
