By Jin Yu Young and Matthew Mpoke Bigg
Fatal attacks in the central Gaza Strip overnight resulted in numerous casualties among Palestinians, according to health officials and the United Nations on Monday, as the Israeli military targeted a hospital complex where they alleged Hamas fighters were located, and a separate strike hit a school repurposed as a shelter.
An Israeli attack ignited a tent encampment in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, claiming at least four lives and injuring around 70 others, reported Wafa, the official news outlet of the Palestinian Authority. Footage captured by The Associated Press and Reuters on Monday morning displays individuals sifting through smoldering ruins and attempting to put out the fires at the encampment, where displaced individuals were seeking refuge in tents at the facility in Deir al-Balah.
The Israeli military asserted that it targeted what it identified as a Hamas command center, a claim that could not be independently verified.
Another strike impacted a school facility in central Gaza where families were taking shelter in Nuseirat, according to Palestinian civil defense services, which confirmed that at least eight bodies had been found at the site. The Israeli military indicated it was investigating the allegations. The primary U.N. agency assisting Palestinians in Gaza stated that the facility was designated for polio vaccinations, coinciding with the resumption of a comprehensive anti-polio campaign in the region.
The airstrikes in Gaza followed a weekend filled with fierce clashes along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah operates. Across Lebanon, Lebanese authorities reported at least 51 fatalities and 174 injuries on Saturday, with three additional deaths and 84 wounded on Sunday, as Israel’s prolonged campaign against Hezbollah persisted.
Here’s what else to know:
— Drone incident: The Hezbollah drone strike on a military base in northern Israel that resulted in four soldiers’ deaths over the weekend has underscored Israel’s susceptibility to assaults from unmanned aerial vehicles. Israeli police revealed on Monday that their officers had alerted the air force minutes prior to the strike about a drone, only to receive incorrect information that the aircraft was Israeli, which led them to dismiss the case. The Israeli military did not provide a comment.
— U.S. deployment to Israel: On Sunday, the United States announced it would be dispatching an advanced missile defense system to Israel, along with approximately 100 U.S. troops to manage it. This marks the first time U.S. forces have been sent to Israel since the Hamas-directed assaults last October. The Israeli military is contemplating retaliation against Iran, which had launched around 200 missiles at Israel on Oct. 1.
— Peacekeeping call: The U.N. secretary-general urged Israel and others to uphold the positions of a U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, following two Israeli tanks breaching a base on Sunday and attacks last week injuring at least four peacekeepers.
— Strike in Lebanon: The Lebanese Red Cross reported on Monday that 21 individuals had died in an Israeli airstrike on the city of Aitou in northern Lebanon, located more than 70 miles from the Israeli border. This predominantly Christian area has not been known to have been targeted by Israel in the past year as it has engaged in strikes against Hezbollah.
