22 dead in Israeli strike on Gaza shelter, say Palestinians
An Israeli strike killed at least 22 people in a school sheltering the displaced in the south of Gaza on September 21st, Palestinians say, while Israel’s military claimed the attack was aimed at a Hamas command centre, reports Reuters.
Gaza’s health ministry said most of the dead were women and children, and Gaza’s government media office, run by Hamas, said 13 children, including a three-month-old baby, and six women were among those killed.
Israel’s military claims it hit a Hamas command centre embedded in the compound that was previously used as a school, in a continuation of their assertion that Hamas uses civilian infrastructure for military purpose – a charge that has been denied by Hamas.
Meanwhile in the southern city of Rafah, the Gaza health ministry said an Israeli strike that hit ministry warehouses killed four health workers. It added that ambulance crews could not reach the dead or treat the wounded.
READ: U.S. Congress passes bill to censor Gaza death toll
A statement by the Israeli military on September 21st said that their forces, operating in Rafah since May, have both dismantled military infrastructure and tunnel shafts in addition to killing dozens of militants.
One of the major sticking points in efforts to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been Israel’s insistence that it keep control of the southern border line between Rafah and Egypt.
READ: No agreement in Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo
Hamas has stated it is concentrated on ending the war and getting Israeli forces out of Gaza, while Israel claims it can only end the war once Hamas is eradicated. Another obstacle to an agreement has been the specifics of a hostage deal which would involve swapping Israeli hostages for Palestinians currently in Israeli jails.
The current war in the decades-long conflict began on October 7th 2023 when Hamas launched an attack into Israel which killed around 1200 people, and took around 250 Israelis hostage, according to Israel’s official statistics. Israel’s ensuing military assault on Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, and displaced almost all of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.
Reuters.
