By Barbara Plett Usher, BBC News
EPAAt least 50 Palestinians have been killed and dozens wounded in a series of Israeli air strikes in south and central parts of Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry says.
One of the deadliest attacks occurred in the designated humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi, west of the southern city of Khan Younis.
Another strike hit a UN-run school housing displaced people in Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza.
The Israeli military said both strikes had targeted members of Palestinian armed groups and that it was looking into reports of civilian casualties.
It also claimed that half of the leadership of Hamas’s military wing had been killed and approximately 14,000 “terrorists” killed or detained during nine months of Israeli air strikes and ground operations in Gaza.
Israel launched a military campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
More than 38,710 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but it had reportedly identified 14,680 children, women and elderly people among the dead by the end of April.
Palestinian sources say the strike in Mawasi hit a car carrying four people near the Jordanian field hospital on al-Attar street.
The area is densely populated, including a tented camp housing displaced families and a nearby market.
Videos on social media showed men lifting bodies onto a lorry, and wounded people being treated at the nearby Nasser hospital.
A statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said an aircraft had “struck a company commander in [Palestinian] Islamic Jihad’s naval unit in western Khan Younis”.
“We are looking into the reports stating that several civilians were injured as a result of the strike,” it added. “The details are under review.”
The IDF has designated al-Mawasi as a humanitarian zone for people fleeing areas of active combat elsewhere in Gaza.
The reported attack comes three days after Israel targeted the head of Hamas’s military wing in the same area, killing dozens of people.
It is unclear whether Mohammed Deif survived, but Israel says it has confirmed that another senior commander was killed.
ReutersA separate Israeli air strike on Tuesday hit a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) in Nuseirat that was housing displaced people.
The Gaza health ministry said 23 people were killed, and photographs show extensive damage of the building.
The IDF statement said it had struck “terrorists” who were operating in the school and directing attacks on its troops in Gaza.
“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken in order to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of aerial surveillance, precise munitions, and additional intelligence,” it added.
The IDF accused Hamas of exploiting civilian buildings and using civilians as human shields, which the group has denied.
This is the sixth school across Gaza that Israel has hit in 10 days, attacks that UN officials have strongly condemned.
Two people were reportedly killed in another strike in Nuseirat on Tuesday afternoon, while strikes in the camp overnight left four people dead.
The IDF said on Tuesday morning that it had struck about 40 “terror targets” across Gaza over the previous day.
It also said that troops had killed fighters and dismantled tunnel shafts during a continuing ground operation in the southernmost city of Rafah.
Also on Tuesday, the military wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired rockets into Israeli territory near Gaza for the first time in two weeks, hitting the town of Sderot. One person was reported lightly injured while running for shelter.
