GAZA/CAIRO: At least 26 people were killed and 93 others wounded when Israeli airstrikes hit a mosque and a school sheltering displaced people in the Gaza Strip early on Sunday, the Gaza government media office said.

Palestinian health officials said at least another 20 people had been killed since Saturday night in northern Gaza.

The Israeli military alle­ged there were command and control centres of Hamas in Ibn Rushd School and the Shuhada al-Aqsa Mosque, in the area of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

The mosque has been here for 20 years, and the neighbourhood has displaced people,“ imam Ahmed Fleet said.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said Israel had struck 27 houses, schools and displacement shelters across Gaza in the past 48 hours.

Medics said an Israeli airstrike killed three Palestinians in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, where Israeli forces have been operating since May.

The Israeli army on Saturday issued new evacuation orders in parts of Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip forcing families to flee.

Palestinian and UN officials say no place in the enclave is safe, including the humanitarian zones.

Among those killed in north Gaza on Sunday was a local journalist, Hassan Hamad. His death raised to 175 the number of Palestinian journalists killed since Oct 7, according to the Gaza government.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2024