At least 22 people, including seven children, were killed Tuesday in an Israeli strike on a school compound sheltering thousands of displaced people in the Al Bureij camp in central Gaza, hospital officials said.
Dozens more were injured in the strike, they said.
At the site of the attack, video from the scene showed a large crater where people searched through the rubble of the school for survivors, the remnants of tents and belongings littering the ground.
Safaa Al Khaldi, who was sheltering at the school, said that her son was injured in the strike.
“Our children are starving, our children cannot find a piece of bread,” she said, referring to Israel’s complete blockade of Gaza, now in its third month. “What did we do wrong?”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it struck “terrorists who were operating within a Hamas command and control center,” on Tuesday, but did not provide any further information about the strike.
At the school compound, one woman screamed at Hamas, an expression of anger at Gaza’s ruling militants once virtually unthinkable. “Hamas should get out of the school, they are hiding between the people,” she cried. “Get them out, what’s the fault of the children who are torn apart?”
Tuesday’s strike on the refugee camp comes less than 24 hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the population of Gaza will be displaced to the south after his security cabinet approved an expanded military operation in the enclave.
“There will be a movement of the population to protect them,” Netanyahu said of the “intensified operation,” which by one far-right minister said would be a plan to “conquer” the besieged territory.
Since the Israeli cabinet approved an expanded military operation in Gaza on Sunday, at least 48 Palestinians have been killed and another 142 injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. More than 2,500 Palestinians have been killed since Israel resumed its bombardment of Gaza on March 18, according to figures provided by the ministry.
On Monday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said 13 of its 29 clinics in Gaza have shut down. The ones that are still functioning have “limited capabilities,” it said. Meanwhile, 21 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are only partially functioning, according to the UN health agency.
Israel’s blockade, which has prevented the entry of food and medicine, is pushing the Gaza’s ravaged healthcare system towards collapse, aid agencies have warned.
Near the site of the latest Israeli strike, a woman hugged her crying daughter, saying that all her daughter’s friends were killed.
“My friend Leen is gone, my friend Yousra is gone, my friend Miral is gone,” the daughter said as tears streamed down her face.
The UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) warned Tuesday of a “deepening catastrophe” in Gaza amid the blockade.
“OCHA stresses that under international humanitarian law, civilians must be protected, and their essential needs – including food, shelter, water and healthcare – must be met, wherever they are in Gaza and whether they move or stay,” OCHA said.