At least 24 Palestinians were killed overnight in two separate Israeli air strikes in Gaza, according to medics and officials from Gaza’s civil defence. One of the strikes hit a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City.
The attack targeted the Fahmi Al-Jargawi School, which was housing hundreds of people who had fled the ongoing Israeli offensive in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza. Civil defence officials said 20 bodies were recovered from the site, many of them children. Several were burned beyond recognition after fires broke out in classrooms that had been converted into living spaces.
“We saw flames everywhere. There were charred bodies lying on the ground,” said Rami Rafiq, a resident who lives across from the school. “My son fainted from the horror.”
Footage circulating online showed intense flames and graphic scenes of destruction, including severely burned victims and critically injured survivors.
Among those killed was Mohammad Al-Kasih, head of investigations for the Hamas police in northern Gaza, along with his wife and children, according to local reports.
Earlier the same night, a separate air strike on a home in central Gaza City killed four people, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said.
These attacks come amid a broader intensification of Israel’s military campaign in northern Gaza, which has escalated significantly over the past week. The Israeli military has yet to respond to requests for comment.