Children are among those killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school in a northern Gaza town, as the death toll from the horrific attack in the Gaza Strip reaches 45,000.
The An airstrike hit the Khalil Aweida School in the city of Beit Hanoun, killing at least 15 people, according to the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital where casualties occurred.
The dead included two parents and their daughter, and a father and his son, the hospital said.
And in Gaza City, at least 17 people, including six women and five children, were killed in three airstrikes that hit homes sheltering displaced people, according to Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.
‘We woke up to the strike. I woke up with the rubble on me,” said Yahia al-Yazji. ‘I found my wife with her head and skull visible, and my daughter’s intestines missing. My wife was three months pregnant.’
The Israeli army said in a statement that it had hit a “terrorist cell” in Gaza City and a “terrorist meeting point” in the Beit Hanoun area.
In another Israeli airstrike, a Palestinian journalist working for Al Jazeera, Ahmed al-Lawh, was killed in central Gaza, a hospital and Qatar-based TV station said.
The attack hit a point for the Gaza Civil Protection Organization in the Nuseirat urban refugee camp, Al-Awda Hospital said.
A person responds after an Israeli attack on a school hosting displaced persons, amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, December 15, 2024
The airstrike killed at least 15 people at the Khalil Aweida school in the city of Beit Hanoun.
A person is injured after an Israeli attack on a school hosting displaced persons, amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, December 15, 2024
Three civil defense workers, including the local head of the agency, were also killed, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Civil Defense is Gaza’s main rescue agency and operates under the Hamas-led government.
‘We, the civil protection, carry out humanitarian work as in every country in the world. Why are we being targeted?’ said Kerem Al Dalou.
The Israeli army said it had attacked a militant command center embedded in civil defense offices.
The war in Gaza began after Hamas and other Gaza militants stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostage.
Nearly 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli retaliatory offensive, according to the Israeli Health Ministry. The ministry’s count does not distinguish between fighters and civilians, but says more than half of the dead are women and children.
Most of Gaza’s approximately two million residents have been displaced, often several times. Those hospitals that are still functioning say they are short of medicine, fuel and other basic supplies, while aid groups warn of widespread hunger.
The head of the World Food Program, Cindy McCain, told CBS on Sunday that the UN agency was only able to get two trucks of supplies to Gaza in November, citing insecurity there.
“We need a ceasefire, and we need it now,” she said. “We can no longer stand by and let these people starve.”
Palestinians check the site of an Israeli attack on a school sheltering displaced people, amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, December 15, 2024
Palestinians inspect the site after an Israeli airstrike hit a UNRWA-run school housing displaced people in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, December 15, 2024
Displaced Palestinians take shelter in a tent camp, amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, December 15, 2024
Israel said on Sunday it will close its embassy in Ireland as relations have deteriorated following the war in Gaza, where Palestinian medical officials said new Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 46 people, including several children.
The decision to close the embassy came in response to what Israel’s foreign minister has described as Ireland’s “extreme anti-Israel policies.” In May, Israel recalled its ambassador from Dublin after Ireland announced that it would recognize a Palestinian state, along with Norway, Spain and Slovenia.
The Irish cabinet decided last week to formally intervene in the South African case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, which accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel denies it.
“We are concerned that a very narrow interpretation of what constitutes genocide is leading to a culture of impunity in which the protection of civilians is kept to a minimum,” Irish Foreign Minister Michel Martin said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar’s statement on the embassy closure said: “Ireland has crossed every red line in its relations with Israel.”
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris called the decision to close the embassy “very regrettable.” He added of X: ‘I completely reject the claim that Ireland is anti-Israel. Ireland is pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-international law.”
The head of the World Food Program, Cindy McCain, told CBS on Sunday that the UN agency was only able to get two trucks of supplies to Gaza in November, citing insecurity there.
“We need a ceasefire, and we need it now,” she said. “We can no longer stand by and let these people starve.”