Gaza Officials: Airstrike Kills at Least 10 Near U.N. School
At least 10 are dead and 35 wounded in the wake of an Israeli airstrike that occurred today on the southern Gaza strip near a United Nations school, the AP reports.
Palestinians gathered around the fallen victims' bodies that were spread out on the blood-streaked grounds of the U.N. school, which shelters some 3,000 displaced people. Those who weren't taken to the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah had their wounds tended to under an onsite makeshift tent.
The Rafah school strike comes after the Israeli military began a "new phase" along the Gaza border to demolish the Hamas underground tunnels.
"We have indeed scaled down some of the presence and indeed urged Palestinians in certain neighborhoods to come back to their homes," Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told the AP.
One U.N. staffer was confirmed dead, according to Robert Turner, director of operations for the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza.
Some 70 Israelis—mostly soldiers—have been killed in the four-weeks of conflict. Another 1,750 Palestinians—nearly all civilians—died, according to Palestinian health officials.
[Image via AP]