At least 27 people were reported killed in an Israeli air strike on a shelter for displaced families in Gaza, as the Israeli military also expanded its ground operations in the enclave.
The Israel Defense Forces said on Friday it had begun conducting ground activity in the Shujaiyeh neighbourhood of Gaza city. In a statement it said troops had eliminated terrorists and “dismantled Hamas terrorist infrastructure”, including a command-and-control centre used by the militant group to plan and execute attacks.
The IDF also said its troops were allowing the evacuation of civilians from the combat zones via designated routes.
The Hamas-run health ministry reported that at least 27 residents were killed in the air strike on a school in northern Gaza that was serving as a shelter for displaced families. Dozens more were wounded when the Dar al-Arqam school in the north-eastern Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza city was hit.
The IDF claimed that before the strike, extensive measures were taken to minimise civilian casualties, including the use of precision weaponry, advance warnings, aerial surveillance and intelligence gathering.
Israel renewed its aerial bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza on March 18th after the first phase of a ceasefire and hostage release deal agreed with Hamas in January collapsed, with both sides blaming the other.
The Israeli military was keeping vague about the details of its advance in various locations in Gaza, but the IDF is now in control of about one third of the coastal enclave, where hundreds of thousands of residents have again been forced to flee their homes.
The IDF intends to divide the Gaza Strip into four zones in a bid to ratchet up pressure on Hamas. Earlier this week Israeli troops seized a corridor that cuts across the width of the southern Gaza Strip dividing Rafah, from where most residents have fled, from Khan Younis, the enclave’s second biggest city.
Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced that the corridor, called the Morag corridor after the former Jewish settlement of Morag that was in the area, would be the next Philadelphi corridor, which runs along the border between Gaza and Egypt, and remains under IDF control.
The Netzarim corridor, further north, divides northern Gaza from the rest of the strip. Troops in Beit Lahiya have formed a northern buffer zone, cutting off Gaza city from the north.
IDF chief of staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, said: “The only thing that can stop us from ongoing advancement is the release of our hostages. Their release will allow our troops to return to the opening positions and for further negotiations.”
Israeli defence officials said the military operations are being carried out in parts of the Gaza Strip in which, according to IDF information, no living or dead hostages were being held. However, relatives of the 59 hostages still in Hamas captivity, including more than 20 believed to be alive, have criticised the latest offensive, arguing that it endangers the lives of their loved ones.
Ceasefire contacts appear to be deadlocked and Hamas said it would not even respond to the latest Israeli proposal, which called for the immediate release of half of the living and half of the dead hostages in return for a 40-day ceasefire, and the remainder at the end of the period. Hamas insists on an Israeli commitment, backed with international guarantees, to end the war.
More than 50,400 people have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The Israeli military launched its campaign in response to the Hamas-led cross-border attack on October 7th, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures.
