Israel kills over a dozen people, including children and mayor, in latest attacks on Gaza shelters
Gaza City, Gaza - Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli strikes on the territory killed 17 people on Saturday, including seven at a UN school housing displaced people.
Civil defense spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP there were seven killed, including women and children, and at least 10 wounded "when Israeli warplanes targeted the Al-Majida Wasila school west of Gaza City."
The school was run by the UNRWA, the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees. Like many such facilities, it has been turned into a makeshift shelter for those displaced by the war in Gaza.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.
The vast majority of Gaza's population has been displaced by the war, often multiple times, in what multiple human rights organizations have deemed a war crime.
Bassal said an Israeli strike on the town hall in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza killed mayor Deiab al-Jaro, and nine other people.
The Israeli military said it targeted Jaro in a strike on "the humanitarian area in Deir el-Balah," accusing him of being "an operative in Hamas's military wing" – a justification it has used for the killing of tens of thousands of people in Gaza.
With the official death toll nearing 45,000 and the true number believed to be several times bigger, Israel's assault has reached genocidal proportions, according to legal experts, human rights groups, and scholars.
The US has played a central role in the catastrophe by arming and funding its ally, while also blocking any international efforts to rein in the slaughter.
Cover photo: Collage: REUTERS