At least 48 people were killed yesterday in Israeli air strikes on a school that housed families displaced by the conflict and which was located close to a crowded market and restaurant in Gaza City, local health authorities said.
Medics said two strikes targeted the Karama School in Tuffah, a suburb of Gaza City, killing 15. Later in the day, an Israeli strike near a restaurant and market in the city killed at least 33 people, including women and children, medics said.
There was no immediate Israeli comment.
Reuters footage of the scene near the market showed wounded men being rushed away on the back of pickups and carts. Ambulances sped down shattered streets and a woman in tears carried a baby away from the scene, with two young children beside her.
“The blood was like a lake, oh my baby, pools of blood,” she screamed.
Ahmed Al Saoudi said he witnessed the air strike near the market. “People come to the market to get what they need if they can find it ... Neither the people nor the animals were safe. Neither the young nor the old.”
An image posted on social media showed what appeared to be a family of three – mother, father and son – lying dead on the street in pools of blood. The young boy was carrying a pink backpack. Reuters could not immediately verify the image that was purportedly from the scene near the restaurant.
Two Israeli air strikes on another school, housing displaced people in Bureij camp in central Gaza, killed at least 33 people, including women and children, on Tuesday, local health authorities said.
The Israeli military said it struck ‘fighters’ operating from a command centre in the compound.
The strike smashed classrooms, destroyed furniture and left a large crater in the school campus. Yesterday, survivors sifted through rubble to look for some of their belongings.
“What happened is an earthquake. The Israeli occupation hit a school housing children. They are children,” said eyewitness Ali Al Shaqra. He said the school housed 300 families.
Meanwhile, European leaders and aid groups have criticised Israeli plans to take over distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza and use private companies to get food to families after two months in which the military has prevented supplies entering the Strip.
Israel has given few details of its aid plans, which are part of an expanded operation announced on Monday that could include seizing the entire Palestinian enclave.
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