Gaza, May 26, 2025: At least 50 Palestinians were killed in two separate Israeli airstrikes on Monday morning, one targeting a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City and the other hitting a residential home in Jabalia, northern Gaza, according to local and international sources.
The deadly attacks come amid intensified Israeli bombardments across the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military confirmed that it has conducted more than 200 airstrikes in the past 48 hours, Al Jazeera reported.
In Gaza City’s al-Daraj neighborhood, at least 30 people were killed when Israeli warplanes struck the Fahmi Al-Jirjawi school, which was being used as a shelter for displaced civilians. Medical sources quoted by Anadolu Agency said the strike caused a massive fire, with eyewitness footage showing charred bodies — many of them children — and survivors screaming for help as flames engulfed their tents.
“Charred corpses and the screams of displaced people engulfed in flames were seen and heard from the site,” a witness told local media.
The Israeli military claimed responsibility for the attack, alleging that Hamas had turned the school into a “command and control center.” However, no evidence has been provided to support this claim.
In a separate strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza, 19 more civilians were killed when an airstrike reduced a multi-story residential building to rubble. Dozens of displaced families were reportedly taking refuge in the building. Eyewitnesses described scenes of devastation, with bodies trapped under the debris.
The fresh wave of violence follows nearly three months of tightened Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid entering Gaza. The blockade has deepened what aid groups call an “unprecedented” hunger and health emergency.
At a summit held in Madrid over the weekend, world leaders condemned the ongoing war as “inhumane” and “senseless,” demanding an immediate cessation of hostilities and unfettered access for humanitarian aid.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 3,785 people have been killed since the March 18 collapse of a temporary ceasefire, pushing the overall death toll of Israel’s war on Gaza past 53,900, with a majority of the victims being civilians.
The humanitarian crisis in the enclave has reached catastrophic levels, with nearly 90% of Gaza’s 2 million residents displaced, vast swathes of the territory reduced to rubble, and famine looming across multiple areas.
Since October 2023, the war has claimed the lives of over 61,000 Palestinians, including tens of thousands of women and children, according to Al Jazeera.
Israel’s leadership continues to face mounting international legal pressure. In November 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Simultaneously, proceedings continue at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where Israel stands accused of genocide in its conduct of the war.
