Israeli strikes on Gaza mosque and school kill 26, health ministry says

Aleks Phillips, BBC News

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 26 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes on a mosque and school housing displaced Palestinians in the centre of the territory.

Dozens of people were also injured in strikes that hit Ibn Rushd school and Al-Aqsa Martyrs mosque in Deir al-Balah early on Sunday morning, according to the health ministry.

The Israeli military said it had targeted Hamas militants operating within "command and control" centres at the sites.

Videos verified by the BBC from the mosque show bodies and blood on the ground among the rubble, while footage at the school shows the structure on fire and a man being pulled out on a stretcher.

Earlier, the Hamas-run civil defence agency said 21 people were killed and a large number wounded in the strike on the mosque, according to the AFP news agency.

Sunday's strikes occurred almost exactly one year on from 7 October 2023, when Hamas gunmen attacked Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.

Since then, 41,870 Palestinians have been killed and more than 97,000 injured in Gaza, according to the health ministry. It does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

According to the United Nations, which uses Gaza health ministry figures and considers them reliable, 187 people were killed in Gaza from 30 September to 4 October alone.

In a statement on the strike on the mosque, Hamas accused Israel of "bombing citizens' homes and demolishing them over their heads, resulting in the deaths and injuries of dozens".

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that "before the attacks many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including the use of precision weaponry, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence information."

The IDF accused Hamas of "exploiting civilian institutions and the population as human shields for terrorist acts".

Hamas has denied using schools and other civilian sites for military purposes.

Elsewhere in Gaza, Israel's military began to surround Jabalia in the north overnight in response to what the IDF said were efforts by Hamas to rebuild in the area.

The military said it had struck "dozens of military targets" before and during the ground operation.

The IDF warned the public that north Gaza is "still considered a dangerous combat zone" and published a new map on Sunday showing zones for potential evacuation in the north.

It also said it had expanded the humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza.

Both the mosque and the school hit on Sunday are located in the humanitarian zone.

The IDF said it had re-opened two evacuation routes from the north to access the zone.

Israel does not allow international journalists from media organisations, including the BBC, independent access to Gaza, making it hard to verify the facts on the ground.