Authorities in Gaza reported that dozens of Palestinians were killed on Tuesday in three separate strikes, as Israel continued its assault on the territory despite renewed US criticism over the high civilian casualties.
Mahmud Bassal, spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence, stated that at least 44 people were killed and dozens more wounded in three air strikes within an hour across the Palestinian territory. Israel confirmed its involvement in two of these strikes.
According to the health ministry, a strike on a fuel station in Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza resulted in 17 deaths. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that another strike almost simultaneously targeted the UN-run Al-Razi School in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing five people.
The civil defence agency mentioned a third strike on a gathering near a roundabout in northern Gaza, but did not specify the casualties.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed Washington’s “serious concern” over the deadly Israeli strikes in Gaza to two senior Israeli officials, as relayed by his spokesman. Meanwhile, China has shown a willingness to facilitate “reconciliation” between rival Palestinian factions, following Fatah’s announcement that its officials would meet with Hamas counterparts in Beijing.
Hamas confirmed it would attend talks in the Chinese capital for what it described as an “expanded factional meeting” this weekend. Official Hossam Badran stated that Hamas responded with “a positive spirit and national responsibility” and aimed to achieve “national unity worthy of our Palestinian people, especially in light of the Al-Aqsa Flood battle.”
In the Nuseirat refugee camp, at least 23 people were killed and 73 injured in an attack on a school sheltering displaced people, according to the government’s Media Office. The UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, reported that 70% of its schools in Gaza had been bombed during the conflict, with 95% of these schools being used as displacement shelters at the time of the attacks.
Separately, Lebanese official media reported that Israeli strikes on Tuesday in southern Lebanon killed five people, including three Syrian children. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket fire at Israel. The National News Agency (NNA) stated that “three Syrian children” were killed in a raid targeting farmland in the village of Umm Toot. Additionally, an “enemy” drone strike targeted a motorcycle on the Kfar Tebnit road, killing two Syrians.
A Lebanese security source, speaking anonymously, told AFP that the two Syrians were civilians who worked nearby and had been swimming in the area.
Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari, speaking to Saudi Arabian television channel Al Arabiya, said Hamas leaders could “end the suffering of the people of Gaza” if they “stop being stubborn.” Hagari’s comments came as a photo of female Israeli soldiers captured by Hamas in Gaza on October 7 was published.
“They cause the suffering of the residents of Gaza. They are preventing us from reaching an agreement,” Hagari said, holding up an image of the three captives.
According to Gaza’s civil defence agency, at least 48 people were killed in three Israeli air strikes within less than an hour on Tuesday. The strikes targeted a UN-run school and an Israeli-designated “safe-zone” in the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reported.
The attacks hit the UN’s Al-Razi School in the central Nuseirat refugee camp and a main street lined with market stalls in the southern Al-Mawasi area, where thousands of displaced Palestinians had sought shelter. At least 25 people were killed in Al-Razi and 17 in Al-Mawasi, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office. More than 70 people were wounded in the attacks.
A third Israeli attack on Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza resulted in five additional deaths, officials said.
The bombing of Al-Razi marked the sixth Israeli attack on UN-affiliated schools in the past 10 days. Video footage verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad showed a young man holding what appeared to be remnants of the rockets that targeted the school.
“I cannot describe the scene from the horror of the bombing,” he said.
