Israeli strike on school in Gaza kills at least 22

22 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a school in northern Gaza on Saturday, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Another 30 were wounded in the strike.

The school, located in the Zeitoun area of Gaza city, was sheltering displaced people, the ministry said. Most of the casualties were women and children, it added.

The Israeli army said earlier Saturday that it struck Hamas’ “command and control center, which was embedded inside a compound that previously served” as a school. It said steps were taken to limit harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance.

Contesting narratives around Hamas’ use of schools

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, the Israeli army has struck a number of schools, packed with tens of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes by Israeli offensives and evacuation orders. The conflict has left 90% of Palestinians in Gaza displaced, according to figures from the United Nations.

The military has continually accused Hamas of operating from within civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including schools, UN facilities and hospitals. The contesting narratives over the use of schools and hospitals go to the very heart of the nearly yearlong conflict.

Earlier this month, an Israeli strike hit a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing 14, according to Palestinian medical officials. In July, Israeli airstrikes hit a girls’ school in Deir al-Balah, killing at least 30 people sheltering inside.

Growing frustration among Israel’s allies

Earlier this week, the US ambassador to the United Nations accused Israel’s military of striking schools, humanitarian workers and civilians in Gaza in a sign of growing American frustration with its close ally as the war approaches its first anniversary.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield was unusually outspoken against the Israeli military at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, saying many of the strikes in recent weeks that injured or killed UN personnel and humanitarian workers “were preventable.”

Many council members cited last week’s Israeli strike on a former school turned civilian shelter run by the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, in which six UNRWA staffers were among at least 18 people killed, including women and children.

Israel said it targeted a Hamas command-and-control center in the compound, and Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, asserted Monday that Hamas militants were killed in the strike. He named four, claiming to the council that they worked for UNRWA during the day and Hamas at night.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an independent investigation.

Thomas-Greenfield told council members that the US will keep raising the need for Israel to facilitate humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territory and protect humanitarian workers and facilities like the UNRWA shelter.