15 children, 8 women among victims of school ‘massacre’ in central Gaza: Media office

By Anadolu staff

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - At least 15 children and eight women were among the 31 Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Khadija School in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip, the government media office said on Saturday.

Earlier, the Gaza government media office said that 31 Palestinians, including children, were killed and 100 others injured when Israeli warplanes struck the school, which also served as a field hospital.

In a statement, the media office stated that three missiles hit a facility sheltering thousands of displaced people.

The Israeli military admitted earlier Saturday to targeting the school, claiming it housed a Hamas command center, according to a statement from army spokesperson Avichay Adraee.

Hamas condemned the strike, asserting that the school housed "displaced innocent civilians, mostly women and children."

Throughout the war, the Israeli military has urged Palestinians to move to these so-called humanitarian zones, but these areas have also been subjected to attacks, drawing condemnation from international organizations and governments.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 39,300 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 90,600 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi​​​​​​​​​​​​​​