Israeli strikes kill 52 in Gaza, army says ‘key terrorists’ were in school it targeted | Top updates

At least 52 people were reportedly killed as the Israeli military targeted the Gaza Strip on Monday. Of the 52 people, 36 were lodged in a school-turned-shelter that was struck as people slept, local health officials said.

The strike on the school in the Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City wounded dozens of people, Fahmy Awad, head of the ministry’s emergency service was quoted by the Associated Press as saying. The Shifa and al-Ahli hospitals in Gaza City confirmed the overall toll.

Here are top development in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza:

1. The Israeli Air Force carried out over 200 strikes in the Gaza Strip over the past 48 hours, the military was quoted by the Times of Israel as saying.

2. Awad said the school was hit three times while people slept, setting their belongings ablaze. Footage circulating online showed rescuers struggling to extinguish fires and recovering charred remains.

3. The military said it targeted a militant command and control center inside the school that Hamas and Islamic Jihad used to gather intelligence for attacks. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in residential areas.

According to news agency AFP, the Israeli military said "key terrorists" were targeted in a Gaza school it targeted at dawn on Monday.

The military said it had "struck key terrorists who were operating within a Hamas and Islamic Jihad command and control center embedded in an area that previously served as the 'Faami Aljerjawi' School in the Gaza City area".

4. Israel began allowing a trickle of humanitarian aid into Gaza last week after blocking all food, medicine, fuel or other goods from entering for 2 1/2 months. Aid groups have warned of famine and say the aid that has come in is nowhere near enough to meeting mounting need

5. A new aid system supported by Israel and the United States, but rejected by UN agencies and aid groups, is expected to begin operations as soon as Monday, despite the resignation of the American leading the effort, who said it would not be able to operate independently.

According to reports, Israel plans to roll out a new aid distribution system run by a group known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, that would set up distribution points guarded by private security firms. Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off assistance, without providing evidence.

6. Meanwhile, the head of a US-backed aid group for Gaza announced his resignation, saying it was impossible to do his job in line with principles of neutrality and independence, as the organisation vowed to start delivering assistance on Monday, AFP reported.

In a statement by the Gaza Humanitarian foundation (GHF), executive director Jake Wood said he felt compelled to leave after determining the organisation could not fulfil its mission in a way that adhered to humanitarian principles.

The GHF, based in Geneva since February, has promised to distribute some 300 million meals in its first 90 days of operation.

Israel-Hamas war

Israel renewed its offensive in March after ending a ceasefire with Hamas. It vowed to seize control of Gaza and keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed or disarmed, and until it returns the remaining 58 hostages, a third of them believed to be alive, from the October 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war.

Israel said earlier it plans to seize full control of Gaza and facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of its over 2 million population. Palestinians and much of the international community rejected the plan.

Israel's military campaign has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and internally displaced some 90% of its population. Many have fled multiple times.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the 2023 attack. More than half the hostages have been returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals, eight have been rescued, and Israeli forces have recovered the remains of dozens more.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed around 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It says more than half the dead are women and children but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.

(With inputs from agencies)