26 die in Israeli strike on Gaza mosque, school

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Sunday an Israeli strike on a mosque-turned-shelter in central Deir al-Balah killed 26 people.

"The number of martyrs brought to hospitals as a result of the occupation's targeting of displaced people in the Ibn Rushd school and Al Aqsa Martyrs mosque reached 26, with 93 others wounded," the health ministry said in a statement.

Palestinian health officials said at least another 20 people had been killed since Saturday night in northern Gaza, after the army sent tanks into areas there for the first time in months, while urging residents to go to what it called safe zones in the south.

Palestinian resistance movement Hamas rejects Israeli accusations it uses civilian facilities such as schools, hospitals and mosques for military purposes.

The strikes on the mosque and the school came as the war between Israel and Hamas in the enclave approaches its first anniversary.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said Israel had struck 27 houses, schools and displacement shelters across Gaza in the past 48 hours.

"These crimes take place amid difficult health conditions in Gaza Strip, and where the remaining hospitals are unable to provide good medical and health care as the number of injured and patients increase everyday," it said.

Israeli tanks pushed into the northern Gaza areas of Beit Lahiya and Jabalia overnight, and planes hit several houses, killing at least 20 people, according to medics.

The Israeli military said its forces had encircled the area Jabalia, the focus of its operations.
In one air strike, 10 people were killed in one house, and five others in another strike on a second home and residents described it as one of the worst nights in many months.

The army directed residents to head towards humanitarian-designated area in Al-Mawasi in the southern Gaza Strip.

Palestinian and UN officials say no place in the enclave is safe including the humanitarian zones where Israeli missiles have hit several times.

"The war is back," said Raed, 52, from Jabalia, before he and his family left for Gaza City on Sunday.