At least 30 people have been killed and over 100 injured in an Israeli airstrike on a school in Deir-al Balah, central Gaza, where thousands were sheltering, according to Palestinian officials.
The Israeli military stated it launched the strike to destroy a Hamas command and control center inside the compound.
Most of the victims arriving at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital were women and children, said Dr. Khalil Al-Daqran, a hospital spokesperson.
Footage filmed inside the hospital morgue showed dead bodies on the floor and people identifying their loved ones, including children among the deceased. The emergency room was overwhelmed by casualties, with no more space for patients. One young man received medical treatment on the floor.
Most of those brought to the hospital with injuries were children, including a young boy who died soon after receiving treatment, with the word “unidentified” written on his stomach.
The strike followed fresh evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military in the city of Khan Younis, where an earlier offensive this week killed dozens of Palestinians. Residents in southern neighborhoods were told to leave after being warned that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would “forcefully operate” in the area.
Fighting in Gaza has been ongoing for months, highlighting Israel’s challenges in eliminating Hamas. Israel reported that about 100 militants had been killed during recent fighting.
The United Nations estimated that about 150,000 people fled Khan Younis on Monday alone, intensifying pressure on meager supplies of food and water, and places to seek shelter.
Signaling another campaign, the IDF wrote on Telegram that it was “about to forcefully operate against the terrorist organizations” and called on the remaining population in the southern neighborhoods of Khan Younis to temporarily evacuate to the adjusted Humanitarian Area in Al-Mawasi.
An eyewitness in Khan Younis told reporters that she was “woken up by the screams” of people fleeing the area following the evacuation order, hearing explosions and seeing flares in the sky.
Scenes filmed in Khan Younis showed people fleeing by car, motorbike, and donkey cart with all their belongings. “I am looking for a place to stay. I don’t know where to go,” said one man.
Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza on October 7 after Hamas attacked southern Israel. At least 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others abducted, according to Israeli authorities.
Israeli military action in Gaza has since killed 39,258 Palestinians and injured another 90,589, according to the Ministry of Health there. As of early July, nearly 2 million people had been displaced in Gaza – almost the entire population, according to UN figures.
Aid agencies working in Gaza have warned that new rounds of evacuation orders are making the delivery of emergency rations even more difficult.
“People in Gaza are exhausted, living in inhumane conditions, with no safety at all,” the UN Relief and Works Agency posted on X on Monday.
On Thursday, the IDF said it had recovered the bodies of five Israeli hostages the previous day from a tunnel in an area of Khan Younis previously designated as a “humanitarian area.”
Despite the fighting, US and Israeli officials expressed optimism this week over the possibility of a ceasefire and hostage deal being reached.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that the different parties are “inside the 10-yard line and driving toward the goal line.”
Negotiations are set to resume in Rome on Sunday, two sources familiar with the meeting told CNN.
The US team will be led by CIA Director Bill Burns, joined by his counterparts from Qatar, Egypt, and Israel.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington this week and met with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, who urged him to seal an agreement.
“As I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done,” said Harris. “So to everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire, and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you.”
