Palestinian officials say Israeli strike on Gaza shelter has killed at least 27 people
Deir al-Balah, Oct 10: An Israeli strike on a school sheltering the displaced in the Gaza Strip killed at least 27 people on Thursday, Palestinian medical officials said.
The Israeli military said it targeted Hamas group hiding among civilians, without providing evidence.
Israel has continued to strike at what it says are Hamas members targets across the Palestinian enclave even as attention has shifted to its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and rising tensions with Iran. The military launched a large-scale air and ground operation against Hamas in northern Gaza earlier this week.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the bodies were brought, said the strike in the central town of Deir al-Balah killed 27 people, including a child and seven women. It said several other people were wounded.
An Associated Press reporter saw ambulances streaming into the hospital and counted the bodies, many of which arrived in pieces.
“We appeal to the world. We are dying!” one man screamed.
The Israeli military said it carried out a precise strike targeting a Hamas command and control centre inside the school. Israel has repeatedly attacked schools that were turned into shelters in Gaza, accusing Hamas group of hiding out in them.
Witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons said the strike occurred while school managers were meeting with representatives of an aid group in a room normally used by Hamas-run police who provide security. They said there were no police in the room at the time.
The Hamas-run government operated a civilian police force numbering in the tens of thousands. They largely vanished from the streets after the start of the war as Israel targeted them with airstrikes, but plainclothes Hamas security personnel still exert control over most areas.
Hamas has continued to launch attacks on Israeli forces and fire occasional rockets into Israel more than a year after its October 7 attack ignited the war.
Hamas-led group stormed into Israel and rampaged through army bases and farming communities in that attack, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 others. They are still holding around 100 captives, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel's offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were fighters but say women and children make up more than half of the fatalities. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced around 90 per cent of its population of 2.3 million people, often multiple times.
The Hezbollah group in Lebanon began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in support of Hamas and the Palestinians, drawing Israeli airstrikes in retaliation.
The fighting steadily escalated, and eventually boiled over into all-out war in recent weeks, with Israel carrying out waves of heavy strikes across Lebanon and launching a ground invasion. Hezbollah has expanded its rocket fire to more populated areas deeper inside Israel, causing few casualties but disrupting daily life.
Iran supports Hamas, Hezbollah and other armed groups across the region that refer to themselves as the Axis of Resistance against Israel. Iran launched some 180 ballistic missiles at Israel last week in retaliation for the killing of top Hamas and Hezbollah.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday that its response to the Iranian missile attack will be “lethal” and “surprising,” without providing further details, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US President Joe Biden.
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UP CM Adityanath's plane makes emergency landing in Agra due to technical snag
Agra/Lucknow, Mar 26 (PTI): An aircraft carrying Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made an emergency landing at the Agra airport shortly after take off due to a technical snag, officials said.
The chief minister resumed his journey to Lucknow after over two hours, they said.
Adityanath was in Agra for a public event to mark the eighth anniversary of the BJP government in the state.
"After the programme, the chief minister was scheduled to leave from the Kheria Airport in Agra around 3.30 pm. The aircraft took off but returned shortly apparently due to a snag, which was then inspected by officials," a police official told PTI.
"The chief minister finally resumed his onward journey around 5.30 pm from Kheria," the official added.
Senior Agra district administration and police officials remained at the airport while the chief minister waited there. BJP supporters and local politicians were also present outside the airport.
Earlier in the day, Adityanath inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 128 projects worth Rs 635.22 crore at 'Vikas Utsav' held in Agra to mark the completion of eight years of his government.
"Residents of Agra now have access to metro rail services, officially making Agra a metro city. The construction of the civil terminal at the airport is in its final stages," he said, adding that previous governments failed to provide these facilities.
