Israeli strike kills 7 in Gaza school compound

An Israeli airstrike killed seven people in a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City on Sunday, Palestinian health officials said. The Israeli military said it had targeted militants operating from the compound.

The strike hit Kafr Qasem School in the Beach camp around 11 a.m. (0800 GMT), officials said. Among those killed was Majed Saleh, the director of the Hamas-run Ministry of Public Works and Housing, they added.

Israel’s military said the strike targeted Hamas fighters and that it had used aerial surveillance and taken other measures to minimize the risk to civilians.

Hamas, the militant group that governs Gaza, has repeatedly denied Israeli accusations that it uses hospitals and other civilian buildings for military purposes in the nearly year-old conflict.

The attack occurred amid a surge of strikes further north, between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah forces across the border with Lebanon — a parallel conflict that has raised concerns about broader regional instability.

Six other Palestinians were killed in separate airstrikes in central and southern Gaza, according to medical officials. They said the total number of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Sunday stood at 16.

In Rafah, near Gaza's border with Egypt, residents reported that Israeli tanks advanced toward the western parts of the city, where the army has been operating since May, taking positions on hilltops overlooking the coastal road.

Israel’s demand to maintain control over the southern border between Rafah and Egypt has been a major obstacle in international efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas' military wing said its fighters had launched multiple attacks on Israeli forces in Rafah, firing anti-tank rockets and detonating explosives in houses where Israeli troops had taken positions.

On Saturday, the Israeli military said its forces, operating in Rafah since May, had killed dozens of militants in recent weeks and dismantled military infrastructure, including tunnel shafts.

Reuters