The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday struck a school-turned-shelter in central Gaza’s Deir Al-Balah, saying Hamas was using the compound as a command post.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said the strike on the Rufaida school complex killed 28 people and wounded 54 others, without differentiating between civilians and combatants.
“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the military said in a statement.
Israel also noted that Hamas and other terror groups have routinely used schools, shelters and other protected facilities for their operations, with the civilians there serving as human shields. The IDF vowed to continue striking terror operatives wherever they are, while making efforts to minimize harm to nearby civilians.
Witnesses quoted by The Associated Press said the strike occurred while school managers were meeting with representatives of an aid group in a room normally used by Hamas-run police who provide security. They said there were no police in the room at the time.
The Palestinian branch of Terre des Hommes, a Swiss aid group, said in a statement that members of one of its children’s health teams were killed in the strike, though it did not specify how many.
Also Thursday, a small drone was launched from the Gaza Strip toward Israel and downed by the IDF as it crossed the border, the military said. No one was hurt in the incident.
Meanwhile, the UN children’s agency announced Thursday that Israel had agreed to “humanitarian pauses” in specific areas of Gaza to facilitate a second round of polio vaccinations for some 590,000 children under the age of 10. Israel has yet to comment on the announcement.
The IDF also said Thursday that it had killed dozens of terror operatives over the previous 24 hours, as part of an operation in Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip.
It said troops captured weapons including rifles, RPG launchers, and ammunition.
The update came a day after the IDF carried out a strike on a-command and-control complex in Jabaliya that“eliminated at least twelve terrorists, some of whom took part in the murderous terror attack against the residents of the Gaza border communities on October 7” last year, according to a joint statement Thursday from the military and Shin Bet security service.
The statement named twelve men, identifying them as terror operatives who were affiliated with either Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
“Large quantities of weapons were stored inside the command and control center, and it was used by the terrorists to plan and execute terror attacks against IDF troops and the citizens of the State of Israel,” the joint statement said, adding that the site previously served as a medical compound.
Those killed also included a platoon commander in Hamas’s military intelligence unit, a deputy platoon commander in a Hamas anti-tank unit, two platoon commanders in Hamas’s elite Nukhba force and a Hamas engineering operative, the statement said.
The IDF said it took steps to mitigate civilian harm ahead of the strike.
In central Gaza, troops eliminated numerous gunmen, uncovered weapons and demolished military infrastructure on Thursday, according to the military.
In southern Gaza’s Rafah, forces located and destroyed rocket launchers, weaponry, and underground tunnel shafts used by terror operatives, the IDF said.
Along with the ground operations, the Israeli Air Force hit around 30 Hamas targets in Gaza over the past day, according to the military, which said the strikes targeted terror cells, weapon stockpiles, launchers, buildings, underground infrastructure and other assets of terror groups.
The fighting came after the the United States said Wednesday that it believes Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is alive and likely hiding in an underground Gaza tunnel with hostages in his vicinity.
“Yahya Sinwar remains the decision maker. He remains — we believe — alive and in a tunnel underneath Gaza, holding hostages, and likely with hostages in his vicinity,” said White House Mideast czar Brett McGurk, during a High Holiday call with American rabbis.
The terror leader, who had dropped out of contact, was said in controversial reporting this week to have gotten back in touch with Qatari mediators of a potential hostage-ceasefire deal — saying he wants “immunity” from a potential targeted strike during the talks, according to Channel 12.
It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Agencies contributed to this report.