Palestinian Red Crescent: 28 Killed, 54 Injured in Israeli Strike on Gaza School
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that an Israeli air strike on Rafida School in Deir el-Balah, Gaza, resulted in the deaths of at least 28 people and injured 54 others on Thursday. The Gaza health ministry, run by Hamas, confirmed the same death toll.
The Israeli military stated that the strike targeted a Hamas command-and-control centre, which they claimed was operating from within the school compound. According to the military, the centre was being used to plan and execute attacks against Israeli forces. They did not provide a casualty figure but maintained that Hamas operatives were embedded within the site.
This latest strike follows a series of attacks on school buildings in Gaza, where displaced Palestinians have sought shelter amidst the ongoing conflict. A previous strike on a school-turned-shelter in Jabalia killed at least 15 people in late September, according to Gaza’s civil defense agency.
The war, which has lasted more than a year, has seen more than 42,065 Palestinians killed, the majority civilians, according to data from Gaza’s health ministry. The United Nations has verified these figures as reliable. On the Israeli side, the conflict has resulted in 1,206 deaths, most of them civilians, following a Hamas attack on October 7.
