Israeli strike on school sheltering displaced Gazans kills 27

An Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in the Gaza strip killed at least 27 people on Thursday, according to Palestinian medical officials.

Witnesses sheltering at the location said that the strike hit during a meeting of aid workers, with a child and seven women among the dead, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital medics who said they received the bodies.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said the strike was a precision attack targeting a militant command and control centre located inside the school, but provided no evidence.

Israel is still pummelling Gaza with attacks that the armed forces say are necessary to prevent Hamas from regrouping after a year of bombardment and ground battles.

This claim has been disputed by both witnesses and aid groups.

The Palestinian branch of Swiss NGO Terre des Hommes said in a statement that members of its own children’s health teams were killed in the school attack.

Witnesses say that the IDF struck as school managers met with representatives of aid groups in a room that was previously used by Hamas-run police, however there were no police present during the timing of the strike.

Earlier this week, the IDF launched a large-scale air and ground operation against Hamas in Jabaliya, an urban refugee camp in northern Gaza that has seen heavy fighting.

Residents described hearing Israeli drones and jets overhead as they remained trapped inside. Gaza’s health ministry reporting they had uncovered 54 bodies with many more likely hidden under rubble.

At the same time, Israel continues to strike targets in Beirut alongside a ground incursion it launched last week as part of a push to destroy the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL, said that an Israeli tank fired on its headquarters in the town of Naqoura, wounding two peacekeepers who were later hospitalised. The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident.

UNIFIL said in a statement that its headquarters and nearby positions “have been repeatedly hit”.