ALBAWABA- At least 92 Palestinians were killed across the Gaza Strip within 24 hours as Israel intensified its air and ground attacks ahead of a broader military offensive.
Dozens more were wounded in the bombardments, which targeted multiple civilian areas, including schools sheltering displaced families. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, today marked one of the deadliest days in recent weeks, with 92 people killed.
One of the most lethal single attacks struck a UN-run school in the densely populated Bureij refugee camp, killing 27 people, including nine women and three children, according to officials at Al-Aqsa Hospital.
The school had been serving as a shelter for hundreds of displaced civilians.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini condemned the strike, stating, "The Israeli army twice targeted the same UNRWA school-turned-shelter in one day.
This marks the fifth such attack on this facility since the war began. Death pursues families in Gaza wherever they go — there is no safe place in the Strip."
In a separate attack early Wednesday, another strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City killed 16 people, as reported by Al-Ahli Hospital. Additional Israeli air raids across various parts of the enclave killed at least 16 more.
Witnesses described scenes of devastation, with fire and thick plumes of smoke engulfing the shelter in Bureij as paramedics pulled survivors from the rubble.
The Israeli military has not stated the specific strikes but reiterated its longstanding position that Hamas operates from within civilian infrastructure, including schools, thereby placing blame for the high civilian toll on the group.
The surge in attacks comes as Israel moves forward with a new operational plan that envisions a prolonged military campaign, territorial seizure in Gaza, forced displacement of civilians to the south, and control over humanitarian aid, in part via private security firms.
Tens of thousands of Israeli reserve troops are being mobilized to implement the plan, which is expected to begin following U.S. President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to the region.
