Hamas-run authorities say at least 48 killed in series of IDF strikes in Gaza
Reports say airstrikes hit school sheltering displaced people, restaurant; IDF says soldier seriously wounded, several more moderately hurt in south Gaza combat
Several Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday killed dozens of Palestinians, according to authorities in the Hamas-run enclave, including reported strikes on a school that housed displaced families in Gaza City.
According to the Hamas health ministry, two IDF airstrikes early Wednesday hit the Karama School in Tuffah, a suburb of Gaza City, killing 15. Among those killed was a local journalist, Nour Abdu, Palestinian media claimed.
Later in the day, an Israeli strike near a restaurant and market in the city killed at least 33 people, including women and children, the reports said.
The death tolls provided by Hamas, which do not differentiate between civilians and combatants, cannot be verified.
The IDF did not immediately comment, but generally says it targets Hamas terror infrastructure in the Strip, which is heavily embedded in the civilian population.
Reuters footage of the scene near the market showed wounded men being rushed away on the back of pickups and carts. Ambulances sped down shattered streets and a woman in tears carried a baby away from the scene, with two young children beside her.
Ahmed Al-Saoudi said he witnessed the airstrike near the market. “People come to the market to get what they need if they can find it…Neither the people nor the animals were safe. Neither the young nor the old.”
An image posted on social media showed what appeared to be a family of three — mother, father and son — lying dead on the street in pools of blood. The young boy was carrying a pink backpack. Reuters could not immediately verify the image that was purportedly from the scene near the restaurant.
Soldier seriously wounded in combat
Also on Wednesday, a soldier with the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit was seriously wounded during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, the military announced.
Another soldier of the Golani reconnaissance unit and two troops of the Oketz canine unit were moderately wounded in the same incident.
According to an initial IDF probe, the troops were hit by an explosive device during operations in the Rafah area.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 414.
More than 52,500 Palestinians have been killed since the war in Gaza was sparked by the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry.
The figures cannot be independently verified, and do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January, and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the Hamas onslaught.
The Hamas-led attack saw thousands of terrorists storm southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, of whom 58 remain in Gaza, including at least 35 who are thought to be dead, in addition to the remains of a soldier who was killed in the Strip in 2014.
The Times of Israel Community.