DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian medical officials say the death toll from an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in the Gaza Strip has climbed to 21.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah confirmed the toll, and an Associated Press reporter counted the bodies.
Witnesses say the strike on Thursday appeared to target a makeshift post manned by Hamas-run police inside the school.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
An Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza killed at least 13 people on Thursday, with the toll likely to rise, Palestinian medical officials said.
Israel has continued to strike at what it says are militant targets across the Palestinian enclave even as attention has shifted to its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and rising tensions with Iran. Israel has been carrying out a dayslong air and ground operation against Hamas in northern Gaza.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the bodies were brought, confirmed the toll from the strike in the central town of Deir al-Balah. An Associated Press reporter saw ambulances arriving at the hospital. Many of the bodies arrived in pieces, and the death toll was expected to rise.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Witnesses said the strike targeted a makeshift post of the Hamas-run police inside the shelter.
Israel has repeatedly attacked schools-turned-shelters in Gaza, accusing militants of hiding out there.
Hamas has continued to launch attacks on Israeli forces and fire occasional rockets into Israel more than a year after its Oct. 7 attack ignited the war.
