Cairo: Israeli strikes on Gaza City early Tuesday killed at least 21 people, including nine women and seven children, officials in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said.
The strikes hit two schools-turned-shelters and a residential home, according to the Hamas-run Civil Defense, a rescue body that is often the first to respond after airstrikes.
The Israeli military said Hamas militants were operating inside the school compounds, accusing them of planning attacks against Israel and being involved in holding hostages taken from Israel.
A strike on the Abdel-Fattah Hamoud school in the Daraj neighborhood killed at least eight people from the same family, including five children and their parents, the Civil Defense said, adding that an 18-month-old and a 77-year-old woman were among the dead.
The group said a second strike hit the Asmaa school in Shati, a built-up refugee camp dating back to the 1948 war, killing at least 11 people, including five women and two children. The third strike hit a family house in the Shijaiyah neighborhood, killing two women, the civil defense said.
The third strike hit a family home in the Shijaiyah neighborhood, killing two women.
Israel has escalated its air raids on Gaza City, in the north, over the past week, killing dozens of people as Israeli ground forces continue battling Palestinian militants in the southern city of Rafah.
Israel launched its air and ground invasion of Gaza immediately after Hamas’ October 7 attack, which killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 others hostage. The Israeli offensive has killed over 37,000 Palestinians and unleashed a humanitarian crisis.
