Gaza war: 26 killed in Israeli strikes on mosque and school

The health ministry in the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas, reports 26 people killed in the Israeli air strikes on the mosque and school for the displaced Palestinians in the central part of the Gaza Strip.

Scores of others were also uninjured in attacks on Ibn Rushd school and Al-Aqsa Martyrs mosque in Deir al-Balah on Sunday morning around 3am the ministry added.

The Israeli military stated it had attacked legitimate Hamas targets within “command and control” facilities at the locations.

In northern Gaza, Israel said its troops surrounded the Jabalia area because of what it claimed to be resistance movements by Hamas to rebuild.

The military also gave new possible evacuation zones in the north and opened up more routes to a humanitarian corridor.

After visiting the mosque, which was hit in central Gaza, BBC verified videos showing bodies and blood on the ground and among the debris, and the burning school, chairs, and a man being carried out on a stretcher.

Earlier, the Hamas operated civil defence announced that twenty-one people perished and many more injured in the mosque strike, according to the AFP.

Reuters news agency said Gaza’s Hamas-run media office said that at least 93 people had been injured in the airstrikes.

Sunday’s strikes occurred almost a year to the day after 7 October 2023, the day that Hamas gun men invaded Israel, killed about 1 200 people and kidnapped 251.

In Gaza, the health ministry reported, 41,870 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 97,000 have been injured since then. It does not distinguish between a noncombatant and pulling the trigger of a gun.

The United Nations, who adopted the Gaza health ministry numbers and considers them accurate, said that 187 people died in the Gaza Strip from September 30 to October 4 only.

When referring to the strike on the mosque, Hamas said, ‘Israel continues bombing citizens’ homes and demolishing them over the heads of dozens result in injuries and deaths.’

The IDF claimed that “much was done before the attacks in order to minimize the risk to civilian life, such as the use of pinpoint accurate munitions, over flights, on top of additional intelligence than that available to most western counterparts.”

According to the IDF, Hamas continues to “ misuse civilian establishments and the population for the purpose of acts of terrorism.”

On Sunday evening, the IDF reported an airstrike was conducted on a further school in northern Gaza Strip which the force stated was being used by Hamas as a ‘command and control center’.

Hamas has strongly dismissed allegations of using schools and other civilian buildings as some form of barracks.

In other areas of Gaza, Israel’s military sought to encircle the northern town of Jabalia overnight after the IDF accused Hamas of seeking to rebuild in the vicinity.

The military claimed it had attacked “several military objectives” before and during the tank advance.

The IDF told the public that north Gaza is still a ‘security risk area’, and released a new map on Sunday outlining areas for possible evacuation in the north.

It also said that it had increased the size of the humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, though it remains less than the size it was on July 1.

Among the targeted buildings the mosque and the school which were attacked on Sunday are located in the humanitarian zone.

The IDF stated it had opened two axes for evacuations from the northern area to reach the zone.

It is even more difficult as Israel does not allow international journalists from media organizations, including the BBC, to access Gaza independently.