Gaza civil defence says toll from school strike rises to 33

GAZA CITY: Rescuers said at least 20 people were killed, mostly children, and more than 60 wounded in an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City on Monday.

“At least 20 martyrs were transported (to hospital), the majority of them children, and more than 60 wounded in the horrific occupation (Israeli) massacre at the Fahmi Al-Jarjawi School, which was sheltering hundreds of displaced people in the Al-Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City,” civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP, raising the agency’s previous toll from 13 dead.

The intensified fighting, after a nearly three-month blockade of humanitarian supplies, has sharpened international condemnation of Israel.

World leaders meeting in Madrid at the weekend called for an end to the “inhumane” and “senseless” war, while humanitarian organisations said the trickle of resumed aid is not nearly enough to staunch the hunger and health crises.

In Gaza City, rescuers said Monday they “retrieved 13 martyrs and 21 injured from inside Fahmi Al-Jarjawi School in the Al-Daraj neighbourhood, after the Israeli occupation forces targeted it at dawn”.

The day before, Israeli strikes killed 22 people and wounded dozens more across the Palestinian territory, said civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal.

Israel has expanded its offensive on the territory, activating tens of thousands of reservists as it aims for “the defeat of Hamas”.