Israeli Strikes Kill 69 in Gaza, Including Children in School Shelter Bombing
GAZA CITY – At least 69 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed on Thursday by Israeli occupation forces, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency, as the Gaza war nears its 22nd month. The casualties include 15 people killed in an airstrike on a school sheltering displaced civilians and 38 others who were waiting for humanitarian aid.
The deadliest strike hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City, where the majority of victims were children and women, said civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal. AFP footage from the site showed scorched debris, shattered classrooms, and grieving survivors rummaging through the remains.
“This isn’t a life,” said Umm Yassin Abu Awda, mourning outside Al-Shifa Hospital. “Either strike us with a nuclear bomb or let the world’s conscience wake up.”
In other attacks across the Gaza Strip:
25 people were killed near the Netzarim corridor while trying to collect aid.
6 people were killed at another aid distribution site nearby.
7 civilians died in Rafah in the south.
A child was killed by an Israeli drone strike in Jabalia.
3 people died in artillery shelling in Beit Lahia, in the north.
3 others were killed in Al-Mawasi, when tents housing displaced families were struck.
Civil defence teams reported scores of injuries from these incidents. However, independent verification of the death tolls and details remains difficult due to media restrictions and limited access to affected areas.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have escalated operations throughout Gaza, exacerbating what aid groups describe as a humanitarian catastrophe, displacing nearly the entire population of over two million.
Calls to Escalate, Despite Global Ceasefire Demands
Despite mounting international and domestic pressure to end the conflict, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for a more aggressive military campaign.
“Let’s finish the job in Gaza… Occupy the Strip, bring down Hamas, and encourage transfer [of the population],” Ben Gvir said in a televised interview.
He claimed the complete dismantling of Hamas would facilitate the return of hostages taken during the October 2023 attacks.
The latest figures from Gaza’s Health Ministry — considered credible by the United Nations — report that over 57,130 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed since Israel launched its retaliatory war after Hamas’s October 7 assault, which killed 1,219 people in Israel.
