IDF says it’s probing Gaza City strike and regrets civilian harm after 5 reported killed
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The IDF says it is investigating after a strike in Gaza City this evening reportedly killed at least five people.
According to the military, during operations on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line in the Strip’s north, troops spotted several suspects in “dominant structures” on the western side of the Yellow Line — meaning not in IDF-held territory.
The army says the troops fired at the suspects following their identification but doesn’t say that they were armed or how they posed a threat.
Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency says it recovered five bodies killed in an artillery strike at a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s eastern Tuffah neighborhood.
The agency says the majority of the victims were children and that others were injured.
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وداع مؤلم للنازحين الشهداء، الذين ارتقوا بقصف مدفعية الاحتلال لمدرسة، شرق حي التفاح، شرق مدينة غزة. pic.twitter.com/ZFLCABkTo6
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Palestinian media reported at least seven people killed by artillery shelling on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s eastern Tuffah neighborhood.
The IDF says that it is “aware of casualties in the area,” adding that the incident is under further investigation.
“The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved [civilians] and acts as much as possible to minimize harm to them,” the military adds.
The Israeli strike appears to amount to a violation of the October ceasefire agreement.
Noam Lehmann contributed to this report.
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