Israeli air strikes kill dozens in Gaza, including displaced families sheltering in school

At least 54 Palestinians have been killed in two separate Israeli air strikes overnight, according to hospital officials, in one of the deadliest single nights in recent weeks of the war in Gaza.

Among the dead are families who had been sheltering inside a school in central Gaza that was struck by the Israeli military.

The attack on Fahmi Al-Jargawi School in Gaza City, which had been housing hundreds of displaced people from the northern town of Beit Lahia, has drawn swift condemnation from Palestinian officials and rights groups. Beit Lahia has been the focus of an intense Israeli ground and air offensive in recent days.

Emergency workers from Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defence said they recovered 20 bodies from the school compound, many of them charred beyond recognition. Two classrooms that had been converted into makeshift shelters were engulfed in flames following the strike.

Hospital directors in central Gaza confirmed that the total death toll from both attacks exceeded 50, with many of the injured in critical condition. The figure is expected to rise as search-and-rescue efforts continue through the rubble.

In a statement, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said the school compound was being used as a “Hamas and Islamic Jihad command and control centre,” and that it had taken measures to target what it described as “a military installation.”

“The site was used by the terrorists to plan and coordinate attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops,” the military said. The statement also accused Hamas of using “the Gazan population as human shields,” a claim frequently made by Israeli officials during the ongoing conflict.

Hamas has denied the presence of any militant infrastructure at the school. In a statement, it accused Israel of committing a “massacre against innocent civilians who had sought refuge in what they believed to be a safe location.”

Videos from the scene show smouldering debris, collapsed walls, and survivors searching frantically for loved ones beneath twisted metal and shattered concrete. Children’s backpacks and charred mattresses could be seen scattered among the ruins.

The latest strikes come as international pressure mounts on Israel to scale back its military campaign, which has led to widespread devastation across Gaza and an escalating humanitarian crisis. More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict reignited last October, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The Israeli government insists its operations are aimed at dismantling Hamas’ military infrastructure and rescuing hostages taken during the group’s cross-border attack on Israel on October 7, which left around 1,200 Israelis dead and hundreds kidnapped.

With diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire stalled and fighting intensifying in both the north and south of the Gaza Strip, aid agencies warn that the cost for civilians is becoming unbearable.

“This latest strike highlights the complete collapse of any notion of safe zones in Gaza,” said a spokesperson for Médecins Sans Frontières. “Schools, hospitals, and shelters are all being hit. Civilians have nowhere to go.”

As funerals begin for the victims, many families are left with nothing — not even the certainty that the next shelter they flee to will be spared.