Gaza Conflict: Palestinians accuse Israel of bombing school ahead of diplomatic talks

As U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to meet in Jordan to hear Arab demands for a ceasefire, Palestinians reported a fatal Israeli strike on a school in the Gaza City area that was being used as a shelter on Saturday. Many of the evacuees who had taken refuge at the Jabalia refugee camp were killed and injured, according to witnesses, when an Israeli airstrike hit the Al-Fakhoura school. The director of al-Shifa Hospital, Mohammad Abu Selmeyah, reported that the school incident resulted in at least 15 deaths and numerous injuries. A few hours earlier, health officials in Gaza announced that fifteen individuals had perished in an Israeli air strike on an ambulance on Friday night, which was a part of a convoy transporting wounded Palestinians to al-Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza. An ambulance “being used by a Hamas terrorist cell” was detected and struck, according to the Israeli military, which also claimed that several Hamas fighters were killed. Israel was tasked by the Palestinian Health Ministry to show that the ambulance contained militants. Israel declared that it will make more information available. After intensifying a bombing campaign it claims is intended to eradicate Hamas, Israel’s ground forces surrounded Gaza City on Thursday. This came after the militant organisation killed 1,400 people and captured over 240 hostages during an attack on October 7 in southern Israel. (With agency inputs)