UPDATE 2 - Israeli strikes kill 27 Palestinians in Gaza as attacks target displaced, civilians awaiting aid

UPDATES DEATH TOLL; REVISES HEAD, LEDE

By Anadolu staff

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Israeli airstrikes on Friday killed at least 27 Palestinians and wounded dozens more, targeting schools sheltering displaced families, tents, and civilians awaiting aid, according to medical sources and witnesses.

One of the deadliest attacks targeted Al-Qahira School in Gaza City, where thousands of displaced civilians had sought shelter.

Medical sources confirmed that five people were killed in the strike, including a child, while 10 others were injured, some critically. Among the wounded were children, one of whom arrived at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City with an amputated arm.

Witnesses said the school, packed with displaced families seeking refuge, was targeted directly.

Elsewhere in the city, two Palestinians were killed and three others injured in a strike targeting a civilian gathering in the Zeitoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City.

Medical sources told Anadolu that a Palestinian waiting for humanitarian aid in Rafah, southern Gaza was shot dead by Israeli forces.

In Gaza City’s Al-Tuffah neighborhood, an Israeli airstrike struck a civilian gathering, killing three Palestinians and injuring others.

In a separate attack, a drone strike hit a tent set up on the roof of Al-Rimal School, which was sheltering displaced people in the Al-Rimal area of Gaza City. One person was killed and several more were wounded, the sources said.

Witnesses described scenes of panic and destruction as families fled the targeted areas, many of them already displaced by previous Israeli attacks.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian died from injuries sustained in a previous Israeli airstrike that targeted a gathering of civilians near Sheikh Radwan, northwest of Gaza City.

In the northern part of Gaza City, two Palestinians were killed and others wounded in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a residential apartment near Al-Muznar junction in Al-Nasr neighborhood.

In the northern governorate, another Palestinian was killed in an Israeli strike on a group of civilians east of Jabalia refugee camp, while three others succumbed to their injuries in the Zikim area, west of Beit Lahia.

Separately, two Palestinians were killed and others wounded in an Israeli strike on a tent in Khan Younis, the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

Also in Khan Younis, two Palestinians died from wounds sustained in earlier Israeli attacks, while medical teams recovered the bodies of four others from various locations in the eastern part of the city.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 59,600 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Deaths by starvation have climbed in recent days due to a months-long blockade and poor distribution of aid by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.