Israel occupation army admits bombing school sheltering displaced in Gaza

The Israeli occupation army admitted on Wednesday evening that its warplanes bombed a school housing displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, claiming that it was being used by Hamas fighters, Anadolu has reported.

“Earlier today (Wednesday), air force fighter jets attacked, in a focused manner… Hamas terrorists who were operating in the command and control complex established in the Al-Zahraa School in Gaza City,” the army said on X.

The army claimed that Hamas fighters used the “command and control complex” to plan and carry out operations against Israeli troops and that, “Prior to the attack, many steps were taken to reduce the possibility of harming civilians, including the use of precision weapons and intelligence.”

Earlier on Wednesday, three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on Al-Zahraa School, which houses displaced people east of Gaza City, according to a medical source at the Baptist Hospital. Eyewitnesses told Anadolu’s correspondent that thousands of displaced families are sheltering inside the school classrooms, while others are in tents in its courtyards.

Hamas has repeatedly denied Israel’s allegations that its fighters hide in shelters or use them as launchpads for their attacks against occupation soldiers in Gaza. Eyewitnesses point out that the majority of victims of Israeli bombings are usually children and women.

Since the beginning of the Israeli genocide in Gaza on 7 October last year, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been repeatedly displaced, following evacuation orders from the Israeli army. Once displaced, the Palestinians are forced to seek refuge in schools or the homes of their relatives or acquaintances, while some set up tents in the streets, schoolyards or even public parks amid a severe lack of water, food and hygiene.

Israel has killed almost 42,800 people in Gaza since a cross-border incursion by Hamas last October, and wounded more than 100,000 others. Most of the casualties are children and women. Moreover, an estimated 11,000 are missing, presumed dead, under the rubble of their homes and other civilian infrastructure destroyed by the occupation army.

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