Palestinian Officials Report 21 Deaths In Israeli Shelter Strike

An Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza killed at least 21 people on Thursday, with the death toll expected to rise, Palestinian medical officials said.

Israel has continued to strike what it claims are militant targets throughout the Palestinian enclave, even as attention has shifted to its war with Hezbollah in Lebanon and growing tensions with Iran. It launched an extensive air and ground operation against Hamas in northern Gaza earlier this week.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the bodies were brought, confirmed the death toll from the strike in the central town of Deir al-Balah. It was reported that several other people were injured in the strike.

An Associated Press reporter saw ambulances rush into the hospital and counted the bodies, many of which were in pieces.

There was no immediate response from the Israeli military. Witnesses said the strike was aimed at a makeshift post of Hamas-run police inside the shelter.

Israel has repeatedly attacked schools converted into shelters in Gaza, accusing militants of hiding there.

More than a year after its Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war, Hamas has continued to launch attacks on Israeli forces and occasionally fire rockets into Israel.

In that attack, Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel and ransacked army bases and farming communities, killing 1,200 people, the majority of whom were civilians, and kidnapping approximately 250 others. They are still holding approximately 100 captives, with a third of them believed to be dead.

According to local health authorities, Israel’s offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians. They do not say how many were fighters, but women and children account for more than half of the deaths. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced approximately 90% of its 2.3 million residents, often multiple times.