Israeli strike kills at least 22 people at school shelter, Gaza officials say. IDF says it targeted Hamas

Palestinians said anIsraeli strike killed at least 22 people in a school sheltering displaced people in southern Gaza City on Saturday, while theIsraeli military said the attack targeted a command centre of militant group Hamas.

The Gaza Health Ministry said most of those killed werewomen and children. The Hamas-run government media office said13 children and six women were among the dead.

The Israeli military said it hit a Hamas command centreembedded inthe compound that previously served as a school, repeating anaccusation that the group uses civilian facilities for militarypurposes. Hamas denies that.

Reuters footage from the site showed blasted walls, wrecked and burnt furniture, and holes in the ceiling of one room as people tried to salvage any belongings they could.

"The women and their children were sitting in the playground of theschool, the kids were playing, and suddenly two rockets hit them," said one witness, Said Al-Malahi.

Some of the dead were wrapped in blankets and carried away on donkey carts, as ambulances transferred other bodies.

"I did not see a single man that is injured; it was all women and children," said another eyewitness, Ahmed Azzam."Let the Arab countries rejoice, let them rejoice and clap for [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin]Netanyahu and the United States of America," he added, expressingbitterness that regional neighbours were not taking a tougher line against Israel.

Medics killed in southern Gaza, officials say

In Rafah, in the southernGazaStrip, theGazaHealth Ministry said four health workers werekilledby an Israeli strike that hit ministry warehouses. Ambulance crews could not reach the dead or treat the wounded, it added.

In a statement, the Israeli military said forces, operating in Rafah since May, havekilleddozens of militants in recent weeks and dismantled military infrastructure and tunnel shafts.

Israel's demand to keep control of the southern border between Rafah and Egypt has been a major sticking point in international efforts to conclude a ceasefire deal.

Hamas says it is focused on an agreement to end the war and get Israeli forces out ofGaza, while Israel says the war can onlyend once Hamas is eradicated. Another sticking point has been the specifics of an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

This war in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered last Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent assault on the enclave haskilledmore than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the local Health Ministry, and displaced nearly the entire 2.3 million-strong population.