Israel strikes school sheltering displaced as plan for Gaza draws global criticism

GAZA CITY

Displaced Palestinians live in a school that has been converted into a shelter in Gaza City amid the ongoing war in Gaza, Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Gaza's civil defense agency said Wednesday that Israeli strikes on a school sheltering displaced people in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory killed 31 people and wounded dozens, with Israel saying it had targeted Hamas militants.

Gaza civil defense media officer Ahmad Radwan told AFP that a total of 31 people were killed and dozens more wounded in Israeli strikes "on a school sheltering displaced persons" in the Bureij refugee camp in the centre of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military meanwhile said in a statement that its forces had struck a "Hamas command and control centre in the central Gaza Strip" which was used "to store weapons".

The strikes came as Israel drew international condemnation on Tuesday over its plans for an expanded Gaza offensive, as the country's far-right finance minister called for the Palestinian territory to be "destroyed".

Israel's military had called up tens of thousands of reservists for its planned expanded offensive in the Gaza Strip, which an official said would entail the "conquest" of the Palestinian territory.

Türkiye on Tuesday said the recent decision of the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to expand its occupation in Gaza is a “manifestation of expansionist and destructive mentality.”

“Israel must put an end to its irresponsible actions aimed at dragging the entire region into an all-out conflict,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, warning that it is destabilizing the region and jeopardizing peace through its military actions against countries such as Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.

The ministry urged the international community not to remain silent and take a “decisive stance in the face of Israel's unrestrained aggression, not only for regional but also for global peace.”

“Türkiye remains committed to promoting peace and stability in the Middle East, in cooperation and solidarity with regional countries and the broader international community,” the ministry said.

European Union top diplomat Kaja Kallas on Tuesday told her Israeli counterpart in a call that the situation was "untenable", urging the resumption of the flow of aid to Gaza, where famine looms.

Nearly all of the Palestinian territory's 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once during the war, sparked by Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

A two-month Israeli blockade since early March has worsened the humanitarian crisis.

China said it opposed Israel's military actions and was "highly concerned" by plans for a broader assault.

Beijing also called on Israel and Hamas to "effectively implement" the terms of a ceasefire which fell apart on March 18.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Paris "very strongly" condemned Israel's planned offensive, calling it "unacceptable" and adding that its government was "in violation of humanitarian law".

Britain's Middle East minister Hamish Falconer said London opposed the expansion of Israel's operations, adding that "any attempt to annex land in Gaza would be unacceptable".

Germany's new Chancellor Friedrich Merz voiced "considerable concern" and said he would send his foreign minister to Israel this weekend.

It came after Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the Gaza Strip should be "entirely destroyed" and called for its inhabitants to "leave in great numbers to third countries" after the war.

Earlier, the Palestinian militant group dismissed as pointless ceasefire talks with Israel.

"There is no sense in engaging in talks or considering new ceasefire proposals as long as the hunger war and extermination war continue in the Gaza Strip," Basem Naim told AFP.

The former Gaza health minister said the world must pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to end the "crimes of hunger, thirst, and killings".

"They're trying to starve us," said Ahmed Zaqout, a resident of Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, referring to the Israelis.

"They've taken over every inch of the Gaza Strip, claiming the war is against Hamas -- but in reality, they're targeting the broader Palestinian population."

For Palestinians, any forced displacement evokes memories of the "Nakba", or catastrophe -- the mass displacement in the war that led to Israel's creation in 1948.

 'Weaponize' aid 

On Monday, United Nations spokesman Farhan Haq said that "Gaza is, and must remain, an integral part of a future Palestinian state."

Israel's military has said the expanded operations approved by the security cabinet on Sunday would include displacing "most" of Gaza's population.

Before that phase begins, a senior Israeli security source had said that the timing of troop deployments allowed a "window of opportunity" for a possible hostage deal coinciding with U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East next week.

Qatar, a key mediator in the conflict, said that "our efforts remain ongoing" despite major obstacles to a ceasefire.

Israel's military resumed its offensive on the Gaza Strip in March, ending a two-month truce that saw a surge in aid into the war-ravaged territory and the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said at least 2,507 people had been killed since Israel resumed its campaign in mid-March, bringing the overall death toll from the war to 52,615.

Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Out of the 251 people abducted by militants that day, 58 are still held in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

But Trump said Tuesday that three more hostages held by Hamas have died, bringing the number still living to 21.

"We want to try and get as many hostages saved as possible," the U.S. president said at the White House, without providing further details.

Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin said earlier that its planned offensive approved by the cabinet would include "moving most of the population of the Gaza Strip... to protect them".