Israeli strikes kill 61 in Gaza as UN pursues polio vaccine campaign
One strike, on the Halima al-Sa’diyya school compound, killed at least eight displaced people and wounded 15 sheltering in the school
Israeli military strikes across the Palestinian Gaza Strip killed at least 61 people in the space of 48 hours, local medical personnel said on Saturday, as Israeli forces battled Hamas-led militants in the territory.
Eleven months into the war, numerous rounds of diplomacy have so far failed to clinch a ceasefire deal to end the conflict and bring the release of Israeli and foreign hostages held in Gaza, as well as many Palestinians jailed in Israel.
An Israeli air strike in on the Halima al-Sa’diyya school compound serving as a shelter for displaced people in the Jabilia urban refugee camp killed at least eight people and wounded 15 others, doctors said.
The Israeli military said the strike had targeted a Hamas command centre inside the compound. It accused Hamas of repeatedly exploiting civilians and civilian infrastructure for military purposes, an allegation Hamas denies.
Five more people were killed in a strike on a house in Gaza City.
The armed wings of the Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah said they had fought Israeli troops in Gaza City, in central areas and in the south with anti-tank rockets and mortars, and in some incidents detonated bombs to target tanks and other army vehicles.
