15 Killed in Israeli Strike on Gaza School-Shelter
Rescuers inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike on October 13, 2024 ©Bilal KASHMAR / AFP

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli shelling late Sunday had killed at least 15 people at a school serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians in central Gaza's Nuseirat camp.

The vast majority of the besieged Gaza Strip's 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once by the war, sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, with many seeking shelter in school buildings.

"The Al-Mufti school was bombarded with a large volley of Israeli artillery, resulting in an initial death toll of 15 martyrs, including children, women and entire families, and 50 wounded," said Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the agency.

"This school shelters hundreds of displaced people from different families, including some from Gaza, the south, and various parts of the Gaza Strip," he added.

The Israeli military said it was "looking into the reports".

The attack comes just days after an Israeli air strike on a school killed at least 28 people in Gaza's Deir el-Balah.

Israel's military regularly accuses Hamas of hiding in school buildings where thousands of Gazans have sought shelter -- a charge denied by the Palestinian militant group.

Civilians have borne much of the brunt of the Israeli onslaught, which according to Gaza's health ministry has killed at least 42,227 people over the past year, a majority of them civilians.

The United Nations acknowledges the figures to be reliable.

Hamas triggered the ongoing conflict in Gaza with the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. It resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

WHO, Red Crescent resupply two hospitals in north Gaza

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said late Sunday that a WHO-Palestine Red Crescent operation had managed to resupply two hospitals in northern Gaza.

"WHO and partners finally managed to reach Kamal Adwan and Al-Sahaba hospitals yesterday after 9 attempts this past week," he posted on social media platform X.

"The missions were completed amid ongoing hostilities," he added.

He said drivers had been subjected to "humiliating security screening" and even temporarily detained at a checkpoint, "which is unacceptable".

The WHO regularly criticises the obstacles the Israeli authorities put in the way of these supply and patient evacuation missions.

It did so again on Friday during a news briefing in Geneva specifically on the subject of this relief mission to the northern Gaza Strip.

"One-off missions are not enough. There is a sustained need for resupplying hospitals to keep them functioning," Tedros said, reiterating his call "for sustained facilitation of humanitarian missions and ensuring safety for humanitarian staff; and for a ceasefire".

According to the WHO, 13 patients in critical condition were transferred from Kamal Adwan hospital to Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

"The hospital is overwhelmed and still serving around 60 in-patients and receiving at least 50-70 injured daily," Tedros said.

Six other patients who had been transferred earlier from al-Awda Hospital to Kamal Adwan were also taken to Al-Shifa, along with those accompanying them.

The resupply mission also delivered 20,000 litres (5,300 gallons) of fuel to keep Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda operational, and 23,000 litres of fuel were delivered to Al-Sahaba Hospital, along with 800 units of blood and essential medicines and supplies.

The fuel is mainly used to run the hospitals' generators to ensure power supply.

The hospital infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip is very fragile after a year of war between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas, with many facilities having been hit by shelling or fighting.

The Israeli military accuses Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, of operating under the cover of these buildings, which normally enjoy increased protection under the rules of war.

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