The IDF said in a statement that it had taken measures to limit the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance.
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Palestinian rescuers say at least 14 people were killed and dozens more injured in an Israeli attack on a United Nations-run school that was serving as a shelter for displaced people.
The Israeli military said the building, located in the Al-Shati refugee camp in the western Gaza Strip, was used by Hamas to plan and carry out attacks against Israel.
The Israeli army did not provide further details.
The military said it had taken steps to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians, including using precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence.
In recent months, Israel has carried out dozens of airstrikes on schools in the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by the fighting have sought refuge.
The United Nations said in September that about 85 percent of Gaza’s schools had been hit or damaged, with many requiring major reconstruction work to be able to function again.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said 70% of the schools it administers have been affected and 95% of them are being used as shelters.
Shortly after the Al-Shati strike, the Israeli army ordered the evacuation of the refugee camp and other neighborhoods west of Gaza City, spreading panic among Palestinians who in recent days had sought refuge in these areas to escape Israel’s new offensive against Hamas militants further north.
Israel’s problems with UNRWA
Israel has long accused UNRWA of turning a blind eye to the presence of Hamas militants among its personnel and allowing the group to use its facilities for military purposes.
UNRWA denies these accusations.
In October, the Israeli parliament passed laws effectively banning UNRWA operations in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Since then, many United Nations agencies have rallied behind UNRWA, calling it the “backbone” of the world organization’s aid activities in Gaza and other Palestinian areas.
UNRWA provides education, health care and emergency assistance to millions of Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war that created Israel, as well as their descendants.
Refugee families make up the majority of Gaza’s population, which numbers around two million people.
Aid entry into Gaza
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it would allow 300 humanitarian aid trucks supplied by the United Arab Emirates to enter the Gaza Strip in the coming days.
ADVERTISEMENTThis is less than the 350 trucks per day that the United States has said it wants to see enter the territory.
COGAT, the military body responsible for civilian affairs in Gaza, said the aid was delivered by sea and unloaded at the Israeli port of Ashdod, located just north of the Gaza Strip.
He said the shipment, which includes food, water, medical equipment, shelter and hygiene products, would be inspected before being sent to Gaza, although he did not specify a date.
The amount of aid entering the Gaza Strip fell dramatically in October, when Israel launched a new offensive in the territory’s north.
ADVERTISEMENTBy the end of October, an average of just 71 trucks were entering the Gaza Strip each day, according to the latest UN figures.
The United States has called on Israel to speed up aid entry by mid-November, saying failure could lead to a reduction in military aid.
Israel says it lets a lot of aid into Gaza and accuses U.N. agencies and other aid groups of failing to distribute it.
Aid groups say their efforts are hampered by Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and the breakdown of law and order.
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