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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New Delhi, Nov 14: Coming down heavily on the Chhattisgarh government for removing an elected woman sarpanch of a remote village for "unjustified reasons," the Supreme Court on Monday observed the state wanted the village head to go with a "begging bowl before a babu (bureaucrat)".

A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on the state government to be released in four weeks to Sonam Lakra, the woman sarpanch of a village in Jashpur district, for the mental harassment she suffered.

"This is a case of high-handedness on the part of the authorities in removing an elected sarpanch, a young woman who thought of serving her village in a remote area of Chhattisgarh.

"Instead of admiring her commitments or cooperating with her or extending a helping hand in her endeavour for the development of her village, she was wronged for absolutely uncalled for and unjustified reasons," the bench said.

The top court termed the initiation of proceedings as a "lame excuse" for removing her from the post of sarpanch over a delay in the supply of construction materials and completion of construction work.

"Construction works involve engineers, contractors and timely supply of material besides vagaries of weather and therefore, how can a sarpanch be held responsible for the delay in construction works, unless it is found that there was a delay in allocation of work or performance of a specific duty assigned to her."

"We are satisfied that initiation of proceedings was a lame excuse and the appellant was removed from the office of Sarpanch on the false pretext," the top court said in its order.

While quashing the removal order passed by the sub-divisional officer (revenue), the bench reinstated her to the post of sarpanch till the completion of her term.

"Since the appellant has been harassed and subjected to avoidable litigation, we award the cost of Rs 1 lakh to her which shall be paid within four weeks by the state of Chhattisgarh," the bench said.

It said the state is at liberty to collect the amount from the officers responsible for causing her harassment.

The top court also directed the chief secretary of the state to hold an inquiry and find out the officers/officials responsible for the harassment of the elected representative.

During the hearing of the matter, the top court warned the counsel for the state government for repetitive disruptions saying, "Don't force us to say something harsh."

The counsel submitted that the sarpanch had a remedy available to her and she could appeal against the order of removal before the collector.

"That is what you want. You (state) want a sarpanch to go with a begging bowl before the babu... who in some cases may have been promoted from the post of clerk," the bench observed.

It said the sub-divisional officer (revenue), who passed the arbitrary removal order, seemingly lacked the technical knowledge about how much time construction work takes.

On April 5, the top court, while issuing notice on the plea of Lakra challenging the February 29 order of the high court dismissing her petition against the removal order, directed for a stay on the direction removing her from the post of Sarpanch.

"Meanwhile, the operation of the impugned orders passed by the sub-divisional officer (revenue), Pharsabahar, district Jashpur, Chhattisgarh, removing the petitioner from the post of sarpanch, gram panchayat Sajbahar, as well as that of the high court, shall remain stayed.

"Resultantly, the petitioner shall be reinstated as the sarpanch of the gram panchayat and shall be allowed to perform her duties without any hindrance," the bench had ordered.

Lakra was elected as sarpanch of Sajbahar Panchayat in Jashpur district of the state in January 2020. Some complaints were received with regard to irregularity in the completion of the construction work.

On May 26, 2023, the sub-divisional officer (revenue) registered the case and issued a show-cause notice to her.

Lakra (27) filed a reply stating that the work was sanctioned vide order dated December 16, 2022, under the Rural Industrial Park (RIPA), but she received it from the secretary of the gram panchayat on March 21, 2023.

Therefore, it was not possible to complete the work in such a short span of time, she had said.

It was stated that during the pendency of the enquiry, the work was completed and the oral intimation was given to the authority concerned. However, on January 18, she was removed from the office of sarpanch on the charge that she could not complete the work.