Israeli airstrikes kill 10 in school housing displaced families, hit children's hospital, medics say

An Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced families in northern Gaza killed at least 10 people, while another hit a children's hospital, local health authorities said, taking Wednesday's death toll to 20.

Medics said the airstrike on the Yafa School in the Tuffah area of Gaza City set fire to tents and classrooms. There has been no Israeli comment on the school attack.

Some furniture was still in flames several hours after the strike as people sifted through blackened classrooms and the schoolyard in search of their belongings.

An eyewitness said that the whole school was on fire, and people were shouting. Medics said at least 10 other people were killed in separate Israeli strikes across the enclave.

Since a January ceasefire collapsed on March 18, Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,600 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health authorities, and hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes.

On Wednesday, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said an Israeli missile also hit the upper building of the Durra Children's Hospital in Gaza City, damaging the intensive care unit and destroying the solar panel system that feeds the facility with power. No one was killed in the hospital strike.

Gaza's healthcare system is close to collapse due to an Israeli blockade on all supplies to Gaza, including fuel and electricity, since the beginning of March, when it relaunched military operations.

It says the blockade is aimed at pressuring the Hamas militants who run Gaza to release 59 remaining Israeli hostages captured in the October 2023 attacks that precipitated the war. Hamas says it is prepared to free them but only as part of a deal that ends the war.

The ministry said many Palestinian victims of Israeli military strikes remained trapped under rubble and on the roads, with rescue teams unable to reach them because of ongoing bombardments. The attacks have also hit dozens of bulldozers and machinery used to clear roads, remove debris and carry out rescue operations.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had hit 40 "engineering vehicles" that were used for "terrorist actions," including Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Some of those heavy vehicles were parked on the road and others inside the garages of municipalities.

Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel resulted in 1,200 deaths and 251 hostages taken to Gaza, according to Israeli records.

Since then, local health authorities have reported that over 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive.

(With input from Reuters)