Israeli strikes kill 13 in Gaza school housing displaced families

CAIRO - Israeli strikes on a school housing displaced families in northern Gaza killed 13 Palestinians on Wednesday, local health authorities said, as Israeli forces continued to demolish homes and buildings in Rafah in the south of the enclave.

Medics said two strikes targeted the Karama School in Tuffah, a suburb of Gaza City. Among those killed was a local journalist, Nour Abdu, Palestinian media said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army.

Two Israeli airstrikes on another school, housing displaced people in central Gaza, killed at least 29 people, including women and children, on Tuesday, local health authorities said. The Israeli military said it struck "terrorists" operating from a command center in the compound.

Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, said on Wednesday their fighters had detonated a pre-planted minefield targeting an Israeli armoured force east of Khan Younis. They said they inflicted casualties, followed by mortar shelling of the area.

In the nearby area of Rafah, near the border with Egypt, residents and Hamas sources said Israeli forces, who have taken control of the city, continued to blow up and demolish houses and buildings.

Israeli troops have already taken over an area amounting to around a third of Gaza, displacing the population and building watchtowers and surveillance posts on cleared ground the military has described as security zones.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday an expanded offensive against Hamas would be "intensive" after his security cabinet approved plans that may include seizing the entire Gaza Strip and controlling aid.

Israeli officials have said Rafah could be used as a potential new humanitarian zone.

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's campaign has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Hamas-run health authorities, and reduced much of Gaza to ruins.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said the death of Nour Abdu on Wednesday raised to 213 the number of Palestinian journalists killed by Israeli fire since the war began.