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Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Reuters) – Israeli troops killed at least 22 Palestinians, mostly in the northern Gaza Strip, on Sunday in airstrikes and other attacks on targets including a school housing displaced Gazans, medics and residents said.
They said at least 11 were killed in three separate Israeli airstrikes on homes in Gaza City, nine were killed in the towns of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia camp, and two were killed by drone fire in Rafah.
Residents said scores of houses were bombed and some were set on fire in the three towns. The Israeli army has been operating in the cities for more than two months.
The Israeli army said three houses in Gaza City belonged to militants planning imminent attacks. It said steps had previously been taken to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance.
The military released a photo showing weapons it said were seized in Beit Lahia, including explosives and dozens of grenades.
In Beit Hanun, Israeli forces surrounded families sheltering in the Khalil Aveida school before entering it and ordered them to head toward Gaza City, medics and residents said.
Doctors said several people were killed and wounded during the raid on the school, while the army detained many men. The number of those killed was not immediately clear.
The army said it shot down dozens of militants from the air and on the ground and captured others in Beit Hanun.
Separately, Israel said its air force struck a command and control center at the Abu Shabak clinic complex in northern Gaza that Hamas uses to store weapons and plan attacks. Gaza’s health ministry said the medical center, which includes a mental health clinic, had been destroyed.
Palestinians accuse Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing to depopulate areas on the northern edge to create a buffer zone. Israel denies this and says the campaign is aimed at Hamas militants and is aimed at preventing them from regrouping. The military says it has instructed civilians to evacuate combat zones for their own safety.
The war began when the Palestinian militant group Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and returning more than 250 hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel then launched an air, sea and land offensive that killed nearly 45,000 people, mostly civilians, according to authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, displaced nearly the entire population and left much of the enclave in ruins.
An attempt by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to broker a truce has gained momentum in recent weeks, but there has been no news of a breakthrough.
(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Howard Goller)
