CNN
–
Hospital officials said at least 22 people were killed on Tuesday in an Israeli strike at a school complex protecting thousands of displaced people at Al Breige camp in central Gaza.
Dozens more were injured in the strike, they said.
At the location of the attack, a video of the scene showed people looking for school tile bleaches for survivors, tents and belongings scattered across the ground.
Safaa al-Hardi, who was evacuated at school, said her son was injured in the strike.
“Our kids are hungry. Our kids can’t find bread,” she said. “What did we make a mistake?”
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) said it hit “terrorists operating within Hamas headquarters” on Tuesday but did not provide further information on the strike.
In the school complex, a woman cried out in Hamas. Expressions of anger towards the dominant extremists in Gaza were once virtually unthinkable. “Hamas should leave school and they hide between people,” she cried. “Let them go, what’s the torn children?”
Footage from the scene obtained by CNN shows the injured person died near an ambulance ready to rush to the hospital and was injured. Another bloody, bandaged child is seen being removed from an ambulance on a stretcher.
The strike on Tuesday’s refugee camp comes within 24 hours when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved expanding military operations at the Enclave, saying Gaza’s population would be evacuated to the south.
“There will be a population movement to protect them,” Netanyahu said of the “enhanced operation.” It said that a far-right minister was planning to “conquer” the territories that were surrounded.
At least 48 Palestinians have been killed and 142 have been injured since the Israeli cabinet approved expanding military operations in Gaza on Sunday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. More than 2,500 Palestinians have been killed since Israel resumed bombing Gaza on March 18, figures provided by the province.
On Monday, the Palestinian Red Crescent Association said 13 of the 29 clinics in Gaza had been closed. He said that what is still functioning is “limited capabilities.” Meanwhile, 21 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are only partially functional, according to the UN Health Organization.
Israel’s lockdown, which prevents food and medicine from entering, is pushing Gaza’s devastated health system towards collapse, aid agencies warn.
Near Israel’s latest strike location, the woman hugged her crying daughter, saying that all of her daughter’s friends had been killed.
“My friend Lean is gone, my friend Youthra is gone, my friend Miral is gone,” the daughter said as tears slid down her face.
The UN Humanitarian Agency (OCHA) warned on Tuesday that it would “deepen the catastrophe” in Gaza amid lockdowns.
“Under international humanitarian law, civilians must be protected and the essential needs of food, shelters, water, health care and more must be met wherever they are in Gaza, whether they are moving or staying,” Ocha said.