Israel Claims Gaza School Struck by Airstrike was Hamas Command Center, Resulting in 100 Fatalities

Gaza’s civil defense agency reported Saturday that an Israeli bombardment struck a school in Gaza City, resulting in the demise of 90-100 individuals, while the Israeli military stated that it had targeted a Hamas command center.

“Forty martyrs and several injured individuals after the Israeli air strike on the Al-Taba’een school in the Al-Sahaba region in Gaza City,” agency spokesperson Mahmoud Basal mentioned in a post on Telegram.

Basal characterized the event as “a dreadful massacre,” with some bodies igniting.

“The teams are working to contain the fire to retrieve the bodies of the martyrs and assist the injured,” he stated.

Israel’s army declared Saturday that it had “accurately hit Hamas militants operating within a Hamas command and control center integrated in the Al-Taba’een school.”

Previously, the agency reported that Israeli attacks had struck two schools in Gaza City, leading to the deaths of over 18 individuals.

The Israeli military stated at the time that it had targeted Hamas command centers.

The conflict in Gaza commenced with Hamas’s October 7 assault that resulted in the fatalities of 1,198 individuals, primarily civilians, according to an AFP calculation based on Israeli official data.

Palestinian operatives seized 251 captives, 111 of whom are still confined in Gaza, including 39 that the Israeli military alleges are deceased.

Israel’s retaliatory military operation in Gaza has claimed the lives of at least 39,699 individuals, according to the Hamas-controlled territory’s health ministry, which does not specify civilian and militant casualties.

Israel has vowed to obliterate the Palestinian group in response to its October attack, but throughout 10 months of conflict across the Gaza Strip, the military has found itself revisiting certain areas to combat the militants once more.

Israel’s military announced on Friday that troops were carrying out operations around Khan Yunis, the southern Gaza city from which soldiers had retreated in April after months of intense combat with Hamas.

Following the military’s evacuation directive for sections of Khan Yunis, AFPTV footage revealed a crowd of individuals moving through dusty, damaged streets on foot or riding donkeys and motorcycle carts loaded with belongings.

By Friday, the United Nations Humanitarian Office OCHA approximated that “at least 60,000 Palestinians might have migrated towards western Khan Yunis in the past 72 hours,” as stated by UN spokesperson Florencia Soto Nino.

The Gaza conflict has already drawn in Iran-aligned factions in the region, and concerns of a broader Middle East war have escalated following pledges of retribution for the killings of two senior militants, including Hamas’s political leader.