At least 16 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a school in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian health officials.
The school in Al-Nuseirat refugee camp was being used as a shelter for displaced families. Israel said it had targeted militants in the area, but Hamas denied their presence.
"We came here running to see the targeted area,” said Ayman al-Atouneh, an eyewitness, as quoted by Reuters. “We saw bodies of children, in pieces, this is a playground, there was a trampoline here, there were swing-sets, and vendors.”
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Al-Nuseirat, one of Gaza Strip's eight historic refugee camps, was the site of stepped-up Israeli bombardment on Saturday. An air strike earlier on a house in the camp killed at least 10 people and wounded many others, according to medics.
Gaza health authorities say more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive so far.
Israel’s Rafah Operation
Israeli forces, which have deepened their incursions into Rafah, in the south of the enclave near the border with Egypt, killed four Palestinian policemen and wounded eight others, in an air strike on their vehicle on Saturday, health officials said.
Israel has said its operations in Rafah aim to eradicate the last Hamas armed wing battalions.
The Israeli military said it eliminated a Hamas rocket cell in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza that operated from inside a humanitarian-designated area. It said it carried out a precise strike after taking measures to ensure civilians were unharmed.
The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said fighters attacked Israeli forces in several areas of Gaza with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs.
Hamas Clears The Way For Gaza Ceasefire
Hamas has given its initial approval of a US-backed proposal for a phased cease-fire deal in Gaza, dropping a key demand that Israel commit up front to a complete end to the war, a Hamas official and an Egyptian official said Saturday.
The apparent compromise by the militant group, which controlled Gaza before triggering the war with an Oct 7 attack on Israel, could deliver the first pause in fighting since November and set the stage for further talks on ending a devastating nine months of fighting. But all sides cautioned that a deal is still not guaranteed.
The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, said Washington's phased deal would start with a “full and complete” six-week cease-fire during which older, sick and female hostages would be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. During those 42 days, Israeli forces would withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza and allow the return of displaced people to their homes in northern Gaza, the officials said.
(With inputs from AP and Reuters)
