At least 60 people were killed and dozens wounded when Israeli Defense Forces bombed a school-turned-shelter on Saturday morning, Palestinian health officials said, marking one of the deadliest days in the 10-month war as mediators discussed continuing efforts to ease rising tensions in the region. The death toll is expected to rise.
The airstrike hit the Tabeen School and the mosque contained within in Gaza City during dawn prayers.
The IDF said it targeted a Hamas command center set up inside the school and that “a range of measures had been taken to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians,” including the use of precision weapons, aerial surveillance and intelligence.
Hamas denied having a command center inside the school and called the attack a “heinous massacre” in a statement.
NBC News was unable to independently confirm whether there was a command center at the school.
Inside the Tabin school, which Israeli forces attacked during dawn prayers on Saturday. According to the UN, 477 of the 564 schools in the Gaza Strip have been directly attacked or damaged in the war. Omar al-Qattah/AFP – Getty Images
Mohammed al-Mogel of Gaza's Civil Defense told NBC News that a missile struck the school, where an estimated 4,200 displaced people were sheltering, before a fire spread through the building.
Al-Mogher, head of the agency's documentation department, said the process of identifying the bodies was “extremely complicated”.
“Most of the bodies have been melted into debris and most of them have not been identified as their features have disappeared or the bodies have melted,” he said, adding that more than 60 bodies were still missing and most of the injured were in critical condition, with full-body burns and amputated limbs.
Al-Mogher said some patients had died on the operating table due to a “lack of medical equipment.”
He added that the civil defense forces continue to suffer from severe shortages and are “operating with simple manual equipment, preventing them from effectively carrying out their mission and saving lives.”
Civil Defense official spokesman Mahmoud Saber Basar said on Telegram that there were still large amounts of unidentified body parts and dismembered remains inside the Arab National Hospital.
A man mourns the body of a family member wrapped in cloth at Al-Mamadani Hospital in Gaza City. Omar Al-Qattah/AFP – Getty Images
According to the UN, 477 of Gaza's 564 schools have been directly attacked or damaged since the current conflict began on October 7.
The attack comes amid renewed efforts to ease rising tensions in the region following the assassinations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators continue to try to get Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire agreement, and on Friday US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to discuss de-escalating tensions.
Spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken reiterated the urgent need for a ceasefire in Gaza to secure the release of hostages, allow for a surge of humanitarian assistance and set the conditions for broader regional stability.
Hamas called the attack a “dangerous escalation” and called on the international community to “take urgent action to stop these massacres.”
Freddie Clayton
The Associated Press contributed.
