Gaza civil defence says Israel strikes displacement shelter

TDT | Manama

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Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 25 people on Thursday, including 12 in a strike on a school sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war nearing its 22nd month.

Israel has recently expanded its military operations in the Gaza Strip, where its war on Hamas militants has created dire humanitarian conditions and displaced nearly all of the territory's population of more than two million.

Many have sought shelter in school buildings, but these have repeatedly come under Israeli attacks that the military often says target Hamas militants hiding among civilians.

In Gaza City on Thursday, civil defence official Mohammad al-Mughayyir told AFP that 12 people, "the majority of them children and women", were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli air strike on a school-turned-shelter, which the Israeli military did not confirm.

Pressure has risen for a ceasefire to allow sorely needed humanitarian aid into Gaza at scale and permit the release of hostages seized by Palestinian militants during Hamas's October 2023 attack that sparked the war.

US President Donald Trump earlier this week declared a new ceasefire push, aiming for an initial 60-day truce, which he said had Israel's backing.

But Israel's leaders held firm to their objective of crushing Hamas, even as the group said Tuesday it was discussing new proposals for a ceasefire from mediators.