Dozens martyred as Israeli army targets two Gaza Unrwa schools

Officials in Gaza said rescuers were still recovering bodies and the injured from the rubble after an Israeli strike that killed dozens in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza late Saturday.

At least 87 people were dead or missing following the air strike on Beit Lahiya, the health ministry in the Palestinian territory said, one of the highest death tolls for months from a single attack.

It marked an intensification of Israel's offensives against Palestinian resistance group Hamas in Gaza.

Israel's government has spurned several attempts by the United States, its main ally and military backer, at brokering ceasefires in both Gaza and Lebanon.

In Gaza, the health ministry said rescue operations following the strike in Beit Lahiya were being hindered by communications problems and by ongoing Israeli military operations.

The strike came two weeks into a major assault around Jabalia, just south of Beit Lahiya.

Several Palestinians were martyred and injured Sunday after the Israeli occupation army targeted two schools sheltering displaced people in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.

Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) quoted local sources as saying that the Israeli occupation fired artillery shells at the UNRWA-run Hafsa School that was housing displaced people around Abu Rashid Pool in Jabalia camp, which resulted in killing and injuring several Palestinians.
The sources added that the Israeli occupation army pounded Abu Hussein primary school at Jabalia camp, which led to the martyrdom and injury of many Palestinians.

The Israeli occupation army set fire to Hamad school, which was sheltering displaced people, along with the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza, the sources pointed out, adding that the fire extended to the hospital's electric generators.

Additionally, several Palestinians were killed after Israeli fighter jets bombarded the Al-Fakhoura area in the northern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military announced Sunday the death of a brigade commander in a blast in northern Gaza.

Colonel Ahsan Daksa, commander of the 401st Brigade, was killed in the Jabalia area when an explosive struck him as he left his tank, military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a briefing.

Hagari said that another battalion commander and two officers were lightly wounded in the incident.

As the fighting has continued, two of the three remaining hospitals in northern Gaza have been hit and patients, medical staff and displaced people injured, according to the United Nations. The UN has been urgently seeking access.

Over 5,000 Palestinians left Jabalia via designated routes, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on social media platform X.

Evacuation orders have fuelled fears among many Palestinians that the operation is intended to clear them from northern Gaza to enable Israeli control of the area after the war.

Palestinians were also shocked by footage appearing to show a group of people in a street in Jabalia being hit by a strike as they approached to rescue someone who had already been hit.

The Israeli offensive has made most of Gaza's 2.3mn people homeless, caused widespread hunger and destroyed hospitals and schools.

"Horrifying scenes unfolding in Gaza, amidst conflict, relentless Israeli strikes & an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis," UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland posted on X.

Israel's military offensive in Gaza has left more than 42,500 people dead, Palestinian officials say.