A day after Israel attacked a convoy of ambulances carrying seriously injured patients from al-Shifa hospital to the Rafah border crossing, the Israeli army has intensified its bombing in the Gaza Strip, attacking schools, mosques and more hospitals.
On Saturday morning, an Israeli aerial missile hit the al-Fakhoora school run by the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) in the Jabalia refugee camp, killing at least 15 people and injuring 54. , according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
“The number [of deaths] It is expected to increase,” said Muhammad Abu Silmeyeh, director of Al-Shifa Hospital.
Thousands of people displaced by Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip had taken refuge in the al-Fakhoora school.
A witness to the attack who lost family members in the bombing told Al Jazeera that four people in his family were killed or injured.
“We have nothing to do with anything related to the Hamas movement. There were only children and women in the room,” the witness added.
The attack on the school is the third major attack on the Jabalia camp.
It came hours after a deadly attack on the Osama bin Zaid school housing displaced families in the al-Saftawi area north of Gaza City, killing at least 20 people, according to local media.
The entrance to the Al-Nasser Children’s Hospital in western Gaza City was also attacked on Saturday morning, with several local media outlets reporting civilian casualties.
The Health Ministry spokesperson has said that an estimated 2,200 people, including 1,250 children, are currently buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza.
Generators and solar panels.
Israeli forces also attacked power generators and solar panels at al-Wafa hospital in Gaza City, according to local media.
An Anadolu Agency correspondent reported that the bombing caused a major fire in the hospital courtyard, which was finally brought under control by civil defense teams after several hours.
That attack on the hospital comes a day after the Israeli army attacked the entrance to al-Shifa hospital and the areas surrounding al-Quds hospital and the Indonesian hospital.
According to journalist Hani Mahmoud in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Israeli airstrikes have also hit residential homes with solar panels.
“This seems to be the final nail in the coffin,” he told Al Jazeera.
“What the Israeli army wants people to do is leave. The last source that keeps them in Gaza was the small amount of electricity they got from the solar panels,” he said.
Meanwhile, a water tank in eastern Rafah was also destroyed. “It seems to be another way of telling people, ‘We’re going to bomb everything you depend on for your survival,'” he added.
Gaza-based Al-Aqsa TV reported that the public water tank was used to supply several neighborhoods.
Separately, an Anadolu correspondent reported that the Israeli army bombed two mosques – Ali bin Abi Talib and Al-Istijabah – in the al-Sabra neighborhood, also in southern Gaza.
Tamer Qarmout, assistant professor of public policy at the Doha Institute of Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera that this is part of Israel’s war strategy.
“There are discussions in the Israeli media that the Israeli army will enter phase two of its operations in Gaza starting next week. This means tactical ground operations inside Gaza. So what Israel wants to do before that is for all the civilians to go south,” he said.
“So what are [Israel’s army] What we are doing is depriving the civilians trapped in northern Gaza of any means of livelihood. So they attacked water tanks, civilian facilities, hospitals and even UNRWA schools where people take shelter. Soon, people will have no choice but to go south,” Qarmout added.
He noted that while the Israeli army had ordered civilians in Gaza to temporarily move south since the beginning of its operation in the besieged Strip, many people have stayed for safety reasons amid the Israeli army’s continued bombardment of the entire enclave.
“People have tried to flee to the south but the road has been bombed. How can they feel safe if there is no humanitarian corridor to the south?” Qarmout said.
The Israeli military has said that residents of the northern Gaza Strip will be allowed to use Salah al-Din Street, Gaza’s main road, to evacuate to the south between 11:00 GMT and 14:00 GMT of Saturday.
But according to Qarmout, Israel has a history of breaking promises in war.
“What are the guarantees that Israel will still not bomb while fleeing south? There are no international guarantors like the UN to monitor and guarantee that people will not be attacked,” she stated. “Let’s say that the Red Cross receives this mandate. “Then people will be safe and feel safe.”
