At least 15 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes targeting two gatherings in Gaza City and the southern city of Khan Yunis.
Palestinian security sources said that on Monday (August 19), Israel launched an airstrike on a Palestinian rally in al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City.
9 people were killed and several others were injured in that attack. Medical sources said that the injured have been admitted to the hospital.
In addition, 6 more people were killed in an Israeli attack on a gathering of Palestinians near an internet distribution point west of Khan Yunis, according to medical sources.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Monday that at least 289 aid workers and 885 health workers, including 207 UNRWA members, have been killed in the Gaza Strip so far.
UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini wrote on social media X that many people lost their lives while providing humanitarian aid or medical care to the injured and sick.
He also noted that more than 160 journalists and media workers have been killed while covering the humanitarian impact of the conflict and ongoing violations of international humanitarian law.
Incidentally, at least 1,200 civilians were killed when Hamas entered Israel on October 7 last year. At that time, 250 Israelis were taken hostage by the Palestinian armed group Hamas. Since that incident, the Israeli military has continued to attack Gaza.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry confirmed on Thursday that the death toll in Gaza has exceeded 40,000 so far in Israeli attacks.
AFP was unable to independently verify the death toll at the school, which the Israeli military said was targeted because it housed a Hamas command and control centre.
“Hamas terrorists used the command and control centre to plan and execute attacks against IDF (Israeli army) troops and the State of Israel,” the military said in a statement.
It said it carried out a “precise strike on terrorists who were operating” inside the school.
Earlier this month, the military had struck the Al-Tabieen School in Gaza City, which according to the civil defence agency killed 93 Palestinians, while the military said 31 militants died.
In recent weeks, the military has struck several schools across Gaza, primarily in Gaza City, accusing them of housing Hamas command centres, which the Palestinian militant group denies.
Tens of thousands of displaced people have taken refuge in schools since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7 after Palestinian militants attacked southern Israel.
The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,199 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also seized 251 people, 105 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead. Israel’s retaliatory military offensive against Hamas has killed at least
40,173 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which does not provide details on civilian and militant deaths. Most of the dead in Gaza are women and children according to UN human rights office.
