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An Israeli strike on a school in northern Gaza on Saturday killed at least 22 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, while the Israeli army said it targeted a Hamas command center<\/a> in what used to be a school.<\/p>\n Another 30 were wounded in the strike on the school in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City, the ministry said in a statement. Most of the casualties were women and children, it said. It wasn\u2019t immediately clear which hospital the dead and injured were taken to.<\/p>\n Video taken by The Associated Press showed dozens of people, including children, digging through the rubble of the building \u2014 its ceilings caved in, walls knocked out and a mess of wires and metal rods visible. Outside, others gathered around shrouded bodies. Some covered their faces as they wept for relatives killed in the strike.<\/p>\n \u201cA missile, a missile from the plane hit us, and another missile,\u201d said Ferial Deloul, who is displaced. \u201cWe saw the whole world covered with smoke and stones and we saw people and children cut up. \u2026 What should we do? What is our fault for this to happen to us?\u201d<\/p>\n The Israeli army said earlier Saturday that it struck Hamas\u2019 \u201ccommand and control center, which was embedded inside a compound that previously served\u201d as a school. It said steps were taken to limit harming civilians, including using precise munitions and aerial surveillance.<\/p>\n Also on Saturday, the Gaza Health Ministry said five of its workers were killed and five others wounded by Israeli fire that struck the ministry\u2019s warehouses in the southern Musbah area.<\/p>\n Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, the Israeli army has struck several schools, packed with tens of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes by Israeli offensives and evacuation orders. The conflict has left 90% of Palestinians in Gaza displaced, according to figures from the United Nations.<\/p>\n The military has continually accused Hamas of operating from within civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including schools, U.N. facilities and hospitals. The contesting narratives over the use of schools and hospitals go to the heart of the nearly yearlong conflict.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, an Israeli strike hit a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp<\/a>, killing 14, according to Palestinian medical officials. The Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas militants planning attacks from inside the school.<\/p>\n In July, Israeli airstrikes hit a girls\u2019 school in Deir al-Balah, killing at least 30 people sheltering inside. Israel\u2019s military said it targeted a Hamas command center used to direct attacks against its troops and store \u201clarge quantities of weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n The war began when Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in an Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. They abducted another 250 people and are still holding around 100 hostages. Israel\u2019s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn\u2019t differentiate between fighters and civilians.<\/p>\n Tensions soared in the region on Friday after an Israeli airstrike<\/a> on a Beirut suburb in Lebanon killed dozens of people, including civilians and Ibrahim Akil<\/a>, who was in charge of Hezbollah\u2019s elite Radwan Force. Also killed was Ahmed Wahbi, another senior commander in the group\u2019s military wing.<\/p>\nContesting narratives over the use of schools and hospitals<\/h4>\n
Escalating tensions in the region<\/h4>\n