Israeli tank shells hit a compound housing a U.N. school in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least 15 people, including a baby, and wounding dozens who were seeking shelter from fierce clashes on the streets outside, Palestinian officials said, as Israel pressed forward with its 17-day war against the territory’s Hamas rulers.
The strike occurred during a day of heavy fighting throughout the coastal territory. Israel says the war is meant to halt rocket fire from Palestinian militants in Gaza and destroy a sophisticated network of cross-border tunnels. International efforts to bring about a truce appeared elusive, with the violence continuing and Hamas reiterating its demand for a ceasefire that a crippling Egyptian and Israeli blockade on Gaza be lifted.
Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra said the dead and injured in the school compound were among hundreds of people seeking shelter from heavy fighting in the area.
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It was the fourth time a U.N. facility has been hit in fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, since the Israeli operation began July 8. UNRWA, the Palestinian refugee agency, has said it has found militant rockets inside two vacant schools but the target of Thursday’s strike was not immediately clear.
The Israeli military said it was reviewing the incident, saying that rockets launched by Hamas had landed in the Beit Hanoun area during fighting with its forces, and that those rockets may be responsible for the deaths.
The deaths raised the overall Palestinian death toll in the conflict that began on July 8 to at least 751, Mr. al-Kidra said. Israel has lost 32 soldiers, all since July 17, when it widened its air campaign into a full-scale ground operation. Two Israeli civilians and a Thai worker in Israel have also been killed by rocket or mortar fire.
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British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on Thursday urged Hamas to agree on an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and said Israel and Palestinian Authority (PA) could then come together to hold talks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, made no reference to the ceasefire efforts in underscoring his determination to neutralise the rocket and tunnel threats.
More than 2,000 rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza since July 8, and the Israeli military says it has uncovered more than 30 tunnels leading from Gaza to Israel, some of which have been used by Hamas to carry out attacks.