26 dead in Israeli attacks on mosque and school

This is what the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza says Israeli airstrikes on a mosque and a school housing displaced Palestinians in the center of the territory killed 26 people.

Dozens of people were injured in attacks on the Ibn Rushd School and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Mosque in Deir al-Balah early Sunday morning, according to the Ministry of Health.

The Israeli military said it targeted Hamas militants operating in “command and control centers” at the sites.

Videos from the mosque confirmed by the BBC show bodies and blood on the ground among the rubble, while footage from the school shows the building engulfed in flames and a man being dragged out on a stretcher.

The Hamas-run Civil Defense Authority had previously said that 21 people were killed and a large number were injured in the attack on the mosque, according to the AFP news agency.

Strikes on Sunday Occurred almost exactly a year after October 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen attacked Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.

Since then, 41,870 Palestinians have been killed and more than 97,000 injured in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry. No distinction is made between civilians and fighters.

According to the United Nations, which uses figures from the Gaza Ministry of Health and considers them reliable, 187 people were killed in Gaza from September 30 to October 4 alone.

In a statement about the attack on the mosque, Hamas accused Israel of “bombing and demolishing homes of citizens over their heads, resulting in the death and injury of dozens.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that “prior to the attacks, many steps were taken to reduce the risk of injury to civilians, including the use of precision weapons, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence.”

The IDF accused Hamas of “exploiting civilian institutions and the population as human shields for terrorist attacks.”

Hamas has denied using schools and other civilian sites for military purposes.

Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military began surrounding Jabalia in the north overnight in response to Hamas's efforts to rebuild the area, the IDF said.

The military said it attacked “dozens of military targets” before and during the ground operation.

The IDF warned the public that northern Gaza “is still considered a dangerous combat zone” and released a new map on Sunday showing zones for possible evacuation in the north.

It was also said that the humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi in the south of the Gaza Strip had been expanded.

Both the mosque and the school that was hit on Sunday are in the humanitarian zone.

The IDF said it had reopened two evacuation routes from the north to enter the zone.

Israel does not allow international journalists from media organizations, including the BBC, independent access to the Gaza Strip, making it difficult to verify facts on the ground.