Gaza rescuers say Israeli forces kill 25, including 12 in shelter for displaced
Israel has recently expanded its military operations in the Gaza Strip, where the war since October 2023 has created dire humanitarian conditions and displaced nearly all of the territory's population of more than two million.
Many have sought shelter in school buildings, but these have repeatedly come under Israeli attacks that the military often says target Hamas militants hiding among civilians.
In Gaza City on Thursday, civil defence official Mohammad Al Mughayyir told AFP there were "12 martyrs, the majority of them children and women, and a large number of injuries in an Israeli air strike on the Mustafa Hafez School, which shelters displaced persons, in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood".
AFP footage showed young children wandering through the charred, bombed out building, as piles of burnt debris smouldered.
Groups of Palestinians picked through the rubble and damaged furniture that littered the floor.
Contacted by AFP, the the Israeli military said it was looking into the report as well as another incident, in central Gaza, where according to Mughayyir Israeli gunfire killed people seeking humanitarian aid.
The civil defence official said the gunfire killed six people and resulted in "a large number of injuries" among a group of Palestinians near an aid distribution site.
It is the latest in a string of deadly incidents that have hit people trying to receive scarce supplies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday vowed to eradicate Hamas, whose 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war, even after the Palestinian militant group said it was studying new proposals for a ceasefire from mediators.
US President Donald Trump has said the latest ceasefire push, aiming for an initial 60-day truce, had Israel's backing.
Across Gaza on Thursday, Mughayyir said artillery shelling in the northern town of Beit Lahia killed three people. A strike on Jabalia, also in the north, killed one.
Further south, three people were killed in a strike that hit tents housing displaced people in the coastal Al-Mawasi area, Mughayyir said.
Despite being declared a safe zone by Israel in December 2023, Al Mawasi has been hit by repeated strikes.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers.
The Israeli military did not comment on the reported incidents in Bait Lahia, Jabalia and Al-Mawasi, but told AFP in response that it was "operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities" and that it "follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm".
Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that prompted the Israeli offensive resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 57,012 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.
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The National
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Optimism about Lebanon's ability to transition itself from a vassal state to a state with stature and the capacity to govern itself is waning. As neighbouring Syria makes strides following a civil war, Lebanon is still behaving like an extension of Hezbollah's mini state. This is largely because Iran hasn't allowed Hezbollah to surrender its weapons and relinquish its position as the leader of its 'Resistance Axis' against Israel, thereby refusing to facilitate US President Donald Trump's quest for a strategic shift in Lebanon. Mr Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, hasn't raised the issue of armed proxies in his negotiations with Iran, perhaps giving its leaders the impression that Hezbollah is a mere footnote in the nuclear talks. As for Israel, its confidence in its military capability to eliminate Hezbollah's arsenal – even if that means causing widespread destruction in Lebanon – is growing. 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Hezbollah's tactics to avoid disarmament are fast turning into ammunition for Israel. One day we hear that the group is thinking about limiting its role as an armed movement without fully disarming. Another day we hear it might hand over more weapons on the condition that Israel withdraw from the south. What remains constant, as Reuters reported citing sources within Hezbollah, is that the group 'does not intend to hand over its full arsenal and will retain light weapons and anti-tank missiles to defend against any future attacks'. The weakness of the Lebanese state is the result of an equation it has created for itself, with its top three leaders having surrendered their sovereign authority and placed it at the mercy of Hezbollah. The talk of the trio demanding prior guarantees from US Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack – including that Israel withdraw completely from southern Lebanon – is little more than a contrived excuse, a deliberate obstruction and a severing of the hand that the Trump administration is extending to help Beirut. The necessary guarantees from Israel are already baked into the border normalisation strategy, which is, in itself, the guarantee. Let's hope that the coming days bring reassuring surprises when Mr Barrack returns to Lebanon for talks. Let's hope for a fundamental shift in the strategies of the three leaders, as well as in Hezbollah's positions. But this requires serious American resolve towards Iran. Demonstrating seriousness means proving that Washington is truly determined to stop Tehran's continued investment in its proxy doctrine, which undermines the sovereignty of independent states like Lebanon. Whether Washington, and Beirut itself, can prevent Lebanon from becoming a victim of both Israel's destructive ideology and Tehran's expansionist ambitions remains to be seen.
