UPDATE 2 - At least 15 killed in Israeli airstrikes on 2 schools sheltering displaced Gazans

ADDS CIVIL DEFENSE STATEMENT

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - At least 15 Palestinians, including children, were killed and dozens injured Thursday in Israeli airstrikes on schools sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, according to the Civil Defense Agency.

Warplanes attacked the al-Zahraa and Abdel Fattah Hamoud schools in the al-Tuffah neighborhood, said witnesses.

Medical sources said children were among the victims.

The Israeli army confirmed the attack, claiming the schools were used as “hideouts” by Hamas fighters.

Hamas rejected the claim, however, and condemned the attack on the schools, asserting that the objective of the "brutal massacres ... is to exterminate, displace, and terrorize civilians."

The statement by the Palestinian resistance group urged the UN and international judicial institutions to "fulfil their responsibilities in the face of these crimes that disgrace humanity and to work on bringing the occupation (Israeli) leaders, who are war criminals, to justice and hold them accountable for their brutal crimes."

The Gaza Civil Defense said later that the Israeli army struck the Abdel Fattah Hamoud school for a second time within hours.

“A short while ago, the Israeli occupation bombed Abdel Fattah Hamoud School in the al-Tuffah area for the second time. No injuries have been reported” it said.

Israel has continued a devastating military offensive in the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 39,700 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 91,700 injured, according to local health authorities.

More than 10 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, which 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 Rania Abu Shamala and Mohammad Sio​​​​​​​