Gaza’s civil defence agency reported that an Israeli airstrike at dawn on Monday killed 13 people and injured 21 others at the Fahmi Al-Jarjawi School in the Al-Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City. The strike is part of what Israel describes as a renewed military push to dismantle Hamas, more than 18 months after the militant group’s October 2023 assault on Israeli territory.
The escalating violence in Gaza has drawn fresh condemnation from the international community, especially as a near three-month blockade has left the Palestinian enclave suffering from acute shortages of food, water, medicine, and fuel.
Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on Sunday called for sanctions on Israel during a meeting of European and Arab leaders in Madrid. He urged for a massive, unconditional flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza and called for an arms embargo and individual sanctions against those obstructing a two-state solution. “Gaza is humanity’s open wound,” he stated.
The weekend saw additional airstrikes across Gaza, with at least 22 people reported dead on Sunday alone. Among the dead were seven civilians in Jabalia, including a pregnant woman in Nuseirat whose unborn child could not be saved. Gaza’s civil defence operations director, Ashraf Abu Nar, and his wife were also killed.
In Khan Yunis, a strike killed nine children of a married couple who were both doctors. The Israeli army says it is reviewing these incidents.
Although Israel has recently allowed some aid trucks into Gaza, humanitarian groups argue the effort is insufficient. COGAT, the Israeli body managing aid logistics, reported that 107 trucks entered Gaza on Sunday. However, the World Food Programme insists that a much larger and faster aid delivery is critical to stem the growing crisis of hunger and insecurity.
Controversy surrounds the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), whose executive director Jake Wood resigned, citing the group’s failure to uphold humanitarian principles.
Since March 18, when the latest ceasefire collapsed, Gaza’s health ministry says 3,785 people have been killed, pushing the war’s total death toll to 53,939 mostly civilians.
