Children among dozens killed in Israeli strikes, Gaza officials say

According to the Gaza civil defense agency, at least 28 people, including children, were killed in Israel’s military attacks on the Gaza Strip.

A school housing displaced families was among the facilities hit over the weekend, and eight people died over the weekend, including four children, the agency said.

This came after the UN called on Israel to stop its attacks near a hospital in northern Gaza.

The Israeli military claimed that Hamas’ command center was at the Musa bin Nusayr school compound in Gaza City and did not comment on reports of the attack on the hospital.

“Hamas systematically violates international law,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on social media, adding that Israel’s response would be to “act with force and determination against terrorist organizations.”

Gaza civil defense agency spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told AFP news agency that the school had been repurposed as a shelter for Palestinians displaced by the war.

Abu, a displaced man staying at the school, told BBC Arabic that the attack came while he was sleeping.

“We were sleeping peacefully, then suddenly we were woken up by a very loud explosion,” he said.

Another man, Mahmud, said he was sleeping in a tent in the schoolyard at the time of the attack.

“Stones and shrapnel flew, the walls of the school fell on our heads,” he told BBC Arabic.

Pope Francis on Sunday condemned Israeli attacks on Gaza for the second day in a row.

He stated that it was painful to see “so much cruelty, children being attacked with machine guns, schools and hospitals being bombed.”

Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital, said the generators were hit and claimed that the Israeli army targeted the fuel tank.

World Health Organization (WHO) President Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on the Israel Defense Forces to stop attacks around the hospital.

“The news about the bombardment near Kemal Adwan Hospital and the order to evacuate the hospital is extremely worrying,” he said in a statement on social media on Saturday night.

“We call for an immediate ceasefire around the hospital and for the protection of patients and healthcare workers.”

The hospital director also released a statement saying that Israeli forces treated the hospital “as if we were a military facility.”

“Anyone who steps outside the hospital is at risk of being targeted,” Dr Hussam Abu Safiya said.

Moving the hospital’s operations would endanger patients and medical staff “will be allowed to work without the threat of evacuation,” the official said.

Israel did not comment on reports of the evacuation order.

The BBC approached the IDF for comment.

Palestinian groups involved in the clashes told the BBC: Ceasefire agreement “closer than ever”.

more than that 45,000 Palestinians killed During the 14-month war between Israel and Hamas, according to figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

The war began when Hamas-led gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023; During this attack, approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 people were taken hostage.