Number of victims after Israeli attack on UN school rises

An Israeli airstrike on a school in central Gaza killed or injured several Palestinians on Sunday, health officials said.

The media office put the death toll so far at 15, adding that the school had been housing displaced people.

On Saturday, the Gaza Strip’s Health Ministry said the death toll from an Israeli attack on Al-Mawasi, where displaced Palestinians had sought shelter, had risen to at least 90.

The ministry said “half” of the dead were women and children and there were 300 injured, many in “critical” condition. Israel said it had attacked a senior Hamas official in the area in southern Gaza.

The attack was the deadliest in the Gaza Strip in weeks.

Israel said the attack targeted Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, but it was unclear whether he was killed. Hamas said Deif was “fine” and that Israeli claims they had targeted the group’s leaders were false and served only to justify the attack.

Meanwhile, at least 17 Palestinians were killed and 50 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza City in the early hours of Sunday, disaster and health officials said.

The deaths were caused by at least four separate Israeli airstrikes on four homes in different neighborhoods. Residents and Palestinian health officials said the Israeli military had increased shelling from the air and ground.