“Israeli” airstrikes kill 20 Palestinians, including civilians in shelters

“Israeli” airstrikes across various parts of the Gaza Strip killed at least 20 Palestinians on Saturday, according to the civil defense, as “Israel” expanded its operations 21 months into the devastating war.

Mahmoud Bassal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that "at least 20 martyrs and dozens wounded, including children and women, were recorded as a result of occupation raids that specifically targeted homes, displacement tents, and two schools housing displaced people."

Bassal confirmed "five martyrs and a number of wounded in an early morning airstrike on the Imam al-Shafi'i School in the Askoula area of the Zeitoun neighborhood," located southeast of Gaza City. The school was sheltering hundreds of displaced individuals.

Witnesses reported the strike caused "severe damage" to several school rooms.

Three other people were killed and 11, including "a number of children," were wounded in another airstrike that destroyed the home of the Al-Zeinati family next to the "Talented" School, which shelters displaced people in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northwest Gaza City.

The wounded, including several displaced people, were taken to Al-Shifa Hospital.

Bassal also reported "two martyrs from the Abu Braik family and a number of wounded in an airstrike targeting their home" in the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Medics also transported two brothers from the Al-Sammak family who were killed in a similar strike on their home in the Bureij refugee camp in the central strip.

In the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis, four displaced Palestinians – "Dr. Musa Khafaja, his son Adel, and his sisters Shatha and Judy Khafaja" – were killed after their tent was targeted.

Bassal said the "bodies arrived charred" at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Mohammed Khafaja, 24, said during the farewell of his uncle, Dr. Musa, that it was "a massacre committed by the occupation, the bodies are charred."

He stated that an “Israeli” jet fired "a missile at their tent in the Al-Mawasi area... fire erupted and their bodies burned, no one could save them."

Referring to “Israeli” army evacuation orders, he added, "They say Al-Mawasi area is safe, they lie and kill people without mercy."

The Civil Defense spokesperson also mentioned that "three martyrs were transferred in an Israeli strike that targeted another tent near the destroyed Al-Ribat College building" in Al-Mawasi.

Additionally, one Palestinian was killed and several others wounded by “Israeli” forces who fired toward aid seekers near the Netzarim intersection in southern Gaza City. The deceased and injured were transported to Al-Shifa Hospital.

Witnesses said thousands of Palestinians of various ages gathered after midnight near the Netzarim intersection and near the Wadi Gaza bridge in the central strip to obtain food supplies from a nearby aid distribution center operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which UN agencies refuse to cooperate with, accusing it of lacking neutrality.