Gaza medics say at least 44 killed in Israeli strikes overnight

Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency said Israeli strikes killed at least 44 people overnight.

“Civil defense teams have transferred (to hospitals) at least 44 dead, mostly children and women, as well as dozens of wounded” across Gaza since 1 a.m., agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal tells AFP.

Bassal says eight were killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City and 12 in a strike on a house in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.

Another 15 were killed in a strike on a gas station near the Nuseirat refugee camp and nine in a strike on a house in the Jabalia refugee camp.

There was no immediate comment on the strikes from the Israeli military and the figures, which do not differentiate between civilians and gunmen, could not be verified.

Israel says it takes steps to minimize civilian casualties and blames Hamas which is deeply embedded in civilian infrastructure, operating out of camps, hospitals and schools