Gaza City, May 26 (RHC)-- Israel's overnight airstrikes on a Gaza school sheltering displaced families kill at least 36 Palestinians, including many children, according to medics and civil defense officials.​​​​​​

Israeli forces, early Monday, struck the Fahmi al-Jarjawi School in Gaza City's Daraj neighborhood, where hundreds of displaced Palestinians from Beit Lahia—a northern town under intense Israeli bombardment—had sought refuge.

According to Gaza's Civil Defense agency, rescuers retrieved 20 bodies—many of them children—from the school, with numerous victims charred after fires tore through two classrooms that had been converted into shelters.

Local sources report the casualties included Mohammad al-Kasih, Hamas's northern Gaza police investigations chief, as well as his wife and children.  The Palestinian health ministry reported that just before the school attack, an Israeli airstrike struck a residential building on Thawra Street in Gaza City.

The airstrike hit both a residential building and adjacent tents housing displaced families.  The force of the explosion caused debris from the destroyed home to collapse onto the nearby tents, leading to further casualties. According to reports, at least four people were killed in the attack. 

The twin strikes mark an intensification of Israel's military campaign, which has seen a significant escalation in northern Gaza over the past week.  An Israeli airstrike Friday struck the home of Gaza physician Dr. Alaa al-Najjar, killing nine of her ten children. The attack left her 11-year-old son wounded and her husband, Hamdi al-Najjar, in critical condition.

Israeli military forces systematically target civilian families, medical facilities, and healthcare personnel as part of its ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Israel launched the genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023. According to the health ministry of Gaza, it has killed nearly 54,000 Palestinians there so far, mostly women and children.

In January, the Israeli regime was forced to agree to a ceasefire deal with Hamas, given the regime’s failure to achieve any of its objectives, including the “elimination” of the Palestinian resistance movement or the release of captives.

The 42-day stage of the truce, which was marred by repeated Israeli violations, expired on March 1, but Israel is refraining from stepping into talks for the second stage of the agreement.

[ SOURCE: PRESS TV and NEWS AGENCIES ]