At least 24 Palestinians have been killed in two Israeli strikes in Gaza that hit a mosque and a school, local officials have said. The Israeli military has insisted that the facilities were being used by Hamas operatives.
Gaza’s Government Media Office accused Israel of “two brutal massacres” on Sunday, saying the strikes targeted the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Mosque, which is adjacent to a hospital, and the Ibn Rushd school. Both facilities housed “hundreds of displaced people,” it said in a statement on Telegram.
In addition to claiming two dozen lives, the attack also wounded 93 people, it added.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has confirmed the strikes, but said its warplanes were targeting “Hamas terrorists” operating inside the facility, which used to be a school. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, which was also bombed, served as a command-and-control center, it added.
”These command and control centers were used by Hamas terrorists to plan and execute terrorist attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel,” the IDF claimed, adding that “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians” prior to the attack and that the incident is “a further example of the Hamas terrorist organization’s systematic abuse of civilian infrastructure.”
Israel has been widely criticized for what some say are indiscriminate strikes on the Palestinian enclave and its ground operation which has resulted in unprecedented destruction in the area. West Jerusalem launched its onslaught on Gaza after a surprise attack by Hamas last October. The Israel-Hamas war has so far claimed the lives of more than 41,000 Palestinians and 1,100 Israelis, according to official data.