Israeli air-ground attacks kill dozens over Gaza

Al Jazeera :

Dozens of Palestinians are reported to have been killed as Israel has stepped up its military operations across Gaza.

Gaza’s Health Ministry reported on Wednesday that at least 51 people had been killed in the enclave over the previous 24 hours, as the Israeli military has stepped up attacks alongside its ongoing air and ground offensive in Lebanon.

Israeli fighter jets attacked Gaza City overnight, striking the Muscat School in the Tuffah neighbourhood and the Al-Amal Orphanage in the west of the capital. At least nine displaced people sheltering at the locations were killed, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, announced an attack on the “Brig High School” in central Gaza. The exact location of the target was not immediately clear and it was not known at the time of reporting whether there were any deaths.

In separate statements, the army said the two schools and the orphanage were being used as Hamas “command and control complexes” to plan and carry out operations.

Israel has hit dozens of schools, many of them being used to shelter displaced people, in Gaza throughout its yearlong war in the enclave, claiming they were being used by the armed group.

People and rescuers check the damage following an Israeli attack on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Falluja, near the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza [File: Omar Al-Qataa/AFP]

In southern Gaza, air attacks accompanied the arrival of tanks in three neighbourhoods of Khan Younis. At least 32 people were killed and dozens injured, the city’s European Hospital said, according to The Associated Press news agency.

The hospital records show that seven women and 12 children, as young as 22 months old, were among those killed, AP said.

Dr Saleh al-Hams, head of the nursing department, said the dead and wounded were brought to the European and Nasser Hospitals, both in Khan Younis, starting at about 3am (0:00 GMT).