At least 44 killed as Israeli air strikes hit Gaza schools, hospital compound after talks fail

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill dozens, including children, as Hamas denies using civilian institutions for military purposes.

An Israeli airstrike hit two schools in Gaza City on August 4, killing at least 25 people, the Palestinian official news agency said, while the Israeli military said it struck a Hamas military compound embedded in the schools.

An Israeli air strike hit a tent camp inside a hospital in central Gaza earlier in the day. Gaza health officials said at least 44 Palestinians were killed on August 4, the day after a round of talks in Cairo ended without result.

Footage circulated on Palestinian media showed bodies scattered inside the yard of one of two blast-wrecked schools as residents rushed to carry casualties, including children, and loaded them into ambulance vehicles that took them to at least two nearby hospitals.

The Palestinian officials news agency WAFA and Hamas media said dozens were wounded in addition to the 25 fatalities in the schools of Hassan Salama and Al-Nasser, which housed Palestinian displaced families. They said the strike destroyed several structures inside the facilities.

The Israeli military said it struck militants inside a Hamas command embedded within the schools, accusing Hamas of operating from within civilian property. Hamas denies using civilian institutions for military purposes.

The Hamas-run government media office said Israel had struck 172 designated shelters, mostly schools, housing thousands of displaced families since Oct 7.

“Earlier in the day, an Israeli strike inside the al-Aqsa Hospital compound started a fire, and wounded at least 18 people as well as killing five,” medical authorities said.