80% of casualties in Gaza's school strikes were children, Palestinian Civil Defence says

At least 30 Palestinians were killed and others wounded in Israeli attacks on two United Nations-run schools in Gaza City, most of whom were children according to the territory’s health ministry. 

The Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza said 80 percent of the victims of Sunday’s strikes on the Hassan Salama and al-Nasr schools were children. 

This brings the total number of schools struck in Gaza since 6 July to at least 11, resulting in approximately 150 deaths, according to officials in the territory. 

Gaza’s government media office also reported that since the start of the war on 7 October, Israel has struck at least 172 designated shelters, mostly schools, housing thousands of displaced families. 

Gaza’s civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the schools were reportedly sheltering Palestinians displaced by the months-long war.

Footage circulating on Palestinian media showed bodies scattered in the yard of one of the two bombed schools, as residents rushed to carry casualties, including children, into ambulances bound for nearby hospitals. 

According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa and Gaza's government media office, the strike also destroyed several structures within the school facilities.  

Israel's military confirmed the strike on the two schools.  

On Saturday, a similar Israeli strike hit another school compound in Gaza City, killing at least 17 people, according to the civil defence agency. 

In Deir Al-Balah, three Palestinians were killed when an Israeli missile hit a house. Separate Israeli strikes killed eight people in their home in Jabalia camp in northern Gaza City and three others inside a car. 

Israeli forces have continued their strikes and shelling in the Gaza Strip after diplomatic efforts in Cairo on Saturday ended without progress, as Israel braces for a serious escalation in the north. 

Regional tension has soared following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week, a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, a top military commander from the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.  

Haniyeh's death is part of a series of killings of senior Hamas figures as the Gaza war rages on.

Hamas and Iran have accused Israel of carrying out Haniyeh's assassination and have vowed to retaliate.  

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for his death. Hezbollah, like Hamas, is backed by Iran and has also pledged revenge after Shukr's killing. 

According to Gaza health officials, the Israeli military campaign in Gaza has resulted in at least 39,623 Palestinian deaths.