Israel strikes school-turned-shelter, kills at least 27 people

Deir Al Balah: Israeli airstrikes killed at least 100 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including 27 or more sheltering at a school, according to Palestinian medical authorities, in a stepped-up offensive that Israel’s military said is intended to pressure Hamas and eventually expel the militant group.

The bodies of 14 children and five women were recovered from the school in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City and the death toll could rise because some of the 70 wounded sustained critical injuries, said Health Ministry spokesman Zaher al-Wahidi.

More than 30 other Gaza residents were killed in strikes on homes in the nearby neighborhood of Shijaiyah, he said, citing records at Ahli Hospital.

The Israeli military said it struck a “Hamas command and control centre” in the Gaza City area, and said it took steps to lessen harm to civilians. Israel gave the same reason -- striking Hamas militants in a “command and control centre” -- for attacking a United Nations building used as a shelter a day earlier, killing at least 17 people.

Hamas called the strike on the school a “ heinous massacre” of innocent civilians.

The strikes came as Israel’s military ordered more residents in parts of northern Gaza to move west and south to shelters, warning that it planned to “work with extreme force in your area.” A number of the Palestinians leaving the targeted areas did so on foot, with some carrying their belongings on their backs and others using donkey carts.

“My wife and I have been walking for three hours covering only one kilometer,” said Mohammad Ermana, 72. The couple, clasping hands, each walked with a cane. “I’m searching for shelters every hour now, not every day,” he said.

The fresh evacuation orders came a day after senior government officials said Israel would seize large parts of the Palestinian territory and establish a new security corridor

across it.