Israeli strike hits Gaza school, killing 27 as conflict escalates

At least 27 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza City school that was sheltering displaced families, the Hamas-run health ministry reported. Dozens more were wounded when the Dar al-Arqam school in the northeastern Tuffah district was struck, according to a local hospital.

The Israeli military did not mention a school in its statement but said the strike targeted “prominent terrorists who were in a Hamas command and control center.” The attack came amid Israel’s expanding ground offensive, which has intensified in recent weeks.

Mahmoud Bassal, spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense agency, confirmed that women and children were among the dead. He also reported that a heavily pregnant woman was missing along with her husband, sister, and three children. Footage from the nearby al-Ahli hospital showed children being rushed in with severe injuries.

Overnight, at least 12 people were killed when Israeli strikes hit several homes in Gaza City’s eastern Shejaiya district. Civil Defense teams posted a video showing rescuers pulling the bodies of two young children from the rubble. A witness, speaking anonymously, described being “suddenly shaken by a violent explosion” and discovering that the strike had destroyed a neighbor’s home.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the Shejaiya strike, but on Thursday morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ordered residents of the area and four neighboring districts to evacuate immediately. The IDF warned that it was “operating with great force… to destroy the terrorist infrastructure.” This follows similar evacuation orders for parts of northern Gaza, the southern city of Rafah, and areas of Khan Younis, which the UN says have forced around 100,000 people to flee.

Israel ramped up its military campaign in Gaza on March 18, resuming airstrikes and ground operations after the collapse of negotiations for a second ceasefire and hostage release deal. IDF Chief Spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin stated that the military had “progressed to another stage” in recent days. “We have expanded operations in the southern Gaza Strip with the goal of encircling and dividing the Rafah area,” he said. “In northern Gaza, our troops are operating against terrorist targets, clearing the area, and dismantling terrorist infrastructure.”

Defrin added that over the past two weeks, Israeli forces had struck more than 600 “terrorist targets” and “eliminated more than 250 terrorists.” Before the latest attack in Tuffah, Gaza’s health ministry reported that at least 1,163 people had been killed during the same period, including more than 300 children, according to UN data.

On Wednesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to establish another military corridor to cut off Rafah from Khan Younis. He argued that continued military pressure would force Hamas to release the remaining 59 hostages, up to 24 of whom are believed to be alive.

Hamas, however, rejected Israel’s latest ceasefire proposal, which was coordinated with the U.S. Instead, it backed a separate plan brokered by Qatar and Egypt that would involve a 50-day truce, phased hostage exchanges, an Israeli military withdrawal from parts of Gaza, and increased humanitarian aid. Israel insists that more hostages must be released at the outset of any new ceasefire.

Meanwhile, the IDF announced an internal investigation into the March 23 killing of 15 Palestinian emergency workers near Rafah and their burial in what a UN official described as a “mass grave.” “We want to have all the facts in a way that’s accurate, and we can also hold accountable people if we need to,” an IDF spokesperson said.

A Palestinian paramedic who survived the attack challenged Israel’s version of events, in which the military claimed that five ambulances, a fire engine, and a UN vehicle were “advancing suspiciously” toward Israeli forces without headlights or emergency signals. The IDF also stated that a Hamas operative and “eight other terrorists” were among those killed, though it only identified one by name.

Survivor Munther Abed rejected the military’s claims. “All lights were on” until the vehicles came under direct fire, he said, adding that all those killed were civilian emergency workers.

The conflict began after Hamas launched an unprecedented cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Since then, more than 50,520 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.