Deadly Israeli Airstrike On A School In Gaza City Kills Over 60 People, Palestinian Health Officials Say

On Saturday, an Israeli airstrike hit a school turned shelter in Gaza City, killing over 60 people, according to Palestinian health officials.

This attack is one of the deadliest in the ongoing 10-month conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The Israeli military confirmed the strike but claimed, without proof, that it targeted a Hamas command center within the school. The Health Ministry’s Ambulance and Emergency service reported that 47 people were also hurt. The school, like many others in Gaza, was being used as a refuge for those forced to flee their homes.

[Image source: An Israeli self-propelled artillery fires near the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel on Sunday. Getty]

As of early July, the United Nations said 477 out of 564 schools in Gaza have been damaged or hit directly by the war. In June, a similar attack on a school shelter in central Gaza killed at least 33 people, including 12 women and children.

The strike happened while American, Qatari, and Egyptian mediators tried to negotiate a cease-fire to calm rising tensions. These tensions grew after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.

Since the conflict began, more than 39,600 Palestinians have been killed and over 91,700 injured, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The war started with a Hamas attack on October 7, which led to around 1,200 deaths and 250 abductions in southern Israel. Over 1.9 million people from Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have been displaced, living in crowded tent camps along the Gaza coast.