An Israeli airstrike on a municipal building in the city of Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip on Saturday killed at least 10 people, including the mayor of the city, according to a report by the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Dozens of displaced people were taking shelter in the building, according to the Wafa report.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said shortly afterwards that the aim of the strike was to kill the city's mayor, who the IDF said had also been active as a group in the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic movement. Hamas.
The IDF said it had supported Hamas' combat operations, but did not provide further details on the allegations.
More Israeli strikes in Gaza
Other Israeli strikes elsewhere in the Gaza Strip killed several more people on Saturday, including at least seven in a strike on the former Al-Majida Wasila School building in Gaza City, according to Wafa.
The news agency said that the building was also being used to house people displaced by the conflict.
The IDF said they are investigating the report.
The IDF, however, also admitted to striking a separate school building near Gaza City on Saturday that was allegedly used as a Hamas command post.
The Israeli Air Force “carried out a detailed strike on Hamas terrorists,” the IDF said in a post on its Telegram channel. They said the “terrorists” planned to attack Israel and noted that the group was “based inside a building that was formerly the 'Yaffa' School in Gaza City.”
Israeli forces have again targeted former school buildings amid their Gaza offensive, accusing the anti-Palestinian group Hamas of setting up checkpoints inside the buildings. that.
The IDF's claims could not be independently verified.
The IDF maintained that the army took steps to reduce the risks to civilians, but did not provide information on casualties. Wafa said two people were killed and several others wounded.
Dozens have been killed in the past 24 hours
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, a total of 55 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks within 24 hours.
More than 44,900 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began more than 14 months ago. The ministry's figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, although many of those reported killed are women and children. The casualty reports cannot be independently verified at this time.
Israel began to launch intense attacks in the Gaza Strip in response to the unprecedented attacks on October 7, 2023 on Israel led by Hamas. On October 7, attackers from Hamas and other groups killed more than 1,200 and kidnapped about 250 hostages.
The IDF also said on Saturday that the Israeli air force attacked military bases and individuals allegedly involved in a Hamas missile attack on southern Israel, which was launched from Gaza on Friday night.
An “active international aid warehouse” is located about 50 meters from the missile launch site that Israel launched on Saturday, the IDF wrote on X.
The claims could not be independently verified.
PA moves against Hamas in the West Bank
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, meanwhile, security forces of the Palestinian Authority (PA) moved against the movement of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Jenin in an operation that began on Saturday morning and continued during the day.
The PIJ said one of their leaders was killed. There was no confirmation from the PA.
The operation in the northern West Bank city was aimed at liberating Jenin from “lawless elements,” a spokesman told Wafa. PA Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa was expected to visit.
Observers believe the PA fears an armed uprising in the West Bank that could give the group power, as happened in the Gaza Strip in 2007 after Hamas won parliamentary elections. to win the previous year.
Since then, the government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has maintained limited authority only in the West Bank, with Israeli security forces resuming their own operations.
At the beginning of the week, PA security forces were also engaged in Jenin against Hamas and PIJ, who both accuse the PA of collaborating with Israel.
Relatives of the Palestinians who died in Israeli attacks, mourned as they received the bodies from the Al-Aqsa Hospital morgue for burial in Dair al Balah. Photos Ali Hamad/APA via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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