DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes killed at least 52 people across the Gaza Strip on Monday, including 36 who died when a school being used as a shelter was hit while people slept, sparking fires that engulfed their belongings, according to local health officials. The Israeli military said it was targeting militants who were operating from the school.
Israel relaunched its offensive in March after a ceasefire with Hamas collapsed. The government has pledged to maintain military pressure until Hamas is either dismantled or disarmed, and until the remaining 58 hostages — a third of whom are believed to still be alive — are returned following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that triggered the war.
Last week, Israel began allowing limited humanitarian aid into Gaza after more than two months of total blockade on food, medicine, fuel, and other essentials. Aid agencies warn the supplies are far from sufficient, with famine looming and needs continuing to escalate.
A new aid delivery system backed by Israel and the United States—but opposed by U.N. agencies and humanitarian groups—is expected to launch as soon as Monday, even after the resignation of its American coordinator, who said the initiative would lack operational independence.
Israel has stated its goal of taking full control of Gaza and promoting what it calls the voluntary migration of the enclave’s more than 2 million residents—a plan strongly rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community.
The Israeli military campaign has ravaged much of Gaza, displacing approximately 90% of its population. Many families have been forced to flee multiple times amid relentless bombardment.
Charred remains
One of the deadliest strikes on Monday hit a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City’s Daraj neighborhood, killing at least 36 people and wounding dozens more, according to local health officials. Fahmy Awad, head of emergency services at the Gaza Health Ministry, said a father and his five children were among the dead. Witnesses described scenes of devastation, with charred belongings scattered among the rubble. The Shifa and al-Ahli hospitals confirmed the casualty toll.
According to emergency official Fahmy Awad, the school-turned-shelter was struck three times overnight as people slept, igniting fires that consumed personal belongings and left behind charred bodies. Video shared online showed rescuers battling flames and pulling burned remains from the debris.
The Israeli military said it had targeted a command and control center inside the school used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad to coordinate attacks and gather intelligence. It defended the strike, blaming civilian casualties on militant groups operating from within densely populated areas.
In a separate incident, a strike on a home in Jabalya, northern Gaza, killed 16 members of a single family, including five women and two children, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the victims’ bodies.
Meanwhile, Palestinian militants fired three projectiles from Gaza, the Israeli military said. Two fell short inside the territory, while the third was intercepted before reaching its target.
The war was sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. Over half of the hostages have since been released through ceasefire deals or other arrangements; eight were rescued by Israeli forces, and the remains of dozens more have been recovered.
Israel’s military campaign has devastated much of Gaza, flattening entire neighborhoods and forcing hundreds of thousands into overcrowded schools and makeshift tent camps. Many have lived in these conditions for over a year, displaced multiple times by the ongoing fighting.
The Gaza Health Ministry says about 54,000 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict began. It reports that more than half of those killed are women and children, though its figures do not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
