At least 28 people were killed and 54 injured in an Israeli air strike on a school in the central Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Red Crescent has reported. Displaced families were taking shelter in the town of Deir al-Balah’s Rufaida al-Aslamia school. Smoke and dust are seen rising as people rush to help the injured in videos.

According to eyewitnesses, two airstrikes fell into the school’s food storage rooms where aid was being supplied. Israel termed it a “surgical strike” targeting Hamas militants whom it said were using the school as a command post. Israel claimed it did everything to avoid civilian casualties and blamed Hamas for illegally using civilian infrastructure. Hamas rejected the claim.

The health ministry in Gaza also reported 28 deaths and declared this a “new massacre.” A list issued by the local hospital indicated that the victims included two children, five women, three elderly men, and a school employee named Ahmed Adel Hamouda, who was in administration. His widow commented, “They killed my only support in life and the father of our three disabled daughters.”.

The number of martyrs is shocking,” eyewitness Khaled al-Sultan said. Another local, Taha Majad, asked: “We are humans, aren’t we? For F-16 to bomb shelter school.”

Many schools in Gaza have turned into shelters for the 1.9 million Palestinians who fled their homes since the start of last year’s war. Still, over 200 schools have been hit, and at least 50 were fully destroyed, according to the United Nations. In a designated “humanitarian zone” by Israel where they told Palestinians to clear out, the Rufaida school is overcrowded and lacks basic services.

In northern Gaza, where Israeli forces have continued their ground offensive in the Jabalia area, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. Palestinian health officials said that 130 people have been killed since Sunday when the Israeli military launched a new operation. The Israeli military said it had killed more than 50 Hamas fighters and found weapons in the area.

Israel started its assault against Hamas after the group attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023. At least 1,200 people were killed, and 251 were taken hostage. Since then, over 42,060 people in Gaza have been killed.

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