The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry has accused Israel of attacking two schools in northern Gaza.
It told AFP that at least 50 people were killed in an air strike on the UN-run al Fakhoura school in Jabalia refugee camp.
The camp has been converted into a shelter for displaced Palestinians.
Tal al Zaatar school, in Beit Lahiya, was also attacked, the ministry said.
Sky News cannot independently verify these reports, and has contacted the IDF for comment.
In the last few minutes, commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency, Philippe Lazzarini, said he has seen “horrifying images” of people killed and injured in a UNRWA school, without specifying if this was al Fakhoura.
He posted on X: “Receiving horrifying images and footage of scores of people killed and injured in another UNRWA school sheltering thousands of displaced in the north of the Gaza Strip.
“These attacks cannot become commonplace, they must stop. A humanitarian ceasefire cannot wait any longer.”
This is just as the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) has launched the second phase of its ground offensive in Gaza.
The first phase of the IDF ground offensive was focused on Northern Gaza, with the implicit objectives of seizing Gaza City, destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages.
However, despite growing civilian casualties and an escalating humanitarian crisis, these objectives have not yet been achieved.
The IDF has stated it intends to expand the ground offensive to “wherever Hamas are hiding”, which will inevitably mean that the IDF focus has to shift – eventually – to Southern Gaza.
Although the IDF has not completed its military activity to the North, it is clearly preparing the ground for the next phase of the ground offensive.
The IDF has reportedly been releasing leaflets over the Khan Younis region urging the civilians to move West to al Mawasi – on the West Coast.
Khan Younis is significant because it is the power base of the Hamas regional leader Yahya Sinwar.
However, having moved hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians out of Northern Gaza, the population density in the South is extremely high.
As a result, IDF airstrikes would inevitably involve increased civilian casualties, so the expectation is that “phase two” of the IDF ground offensive would see strikes reduced and an increasing reliance on land forces.
Senior IDF officials recognise that this next phase of the offensive will be more difficult – involving greater civilian and military casualties.
Israeli soldiers in Gaza
Ideally, the IDF will need to clear away the civilian population before mounting a land offensive, although the proposed move to al Mawasi does not appear feasible.
One option might have been to relocate the Palestinians from south to north, using the limited access across the river to identify any Hamas fighters fleeing the south, before tackling them.
However, that would distance the civilians from the vital humanitarian supply routes across the southern border.
The IDF has made clear that this war will continue until all the hostages are released.
Meanwhile, with a spiralling humanitarian crisis and a growing list of civilian casualties, there is growing international concern about what this next phase of the Israeli offensive will actually achieve, and whether the Israeli political imperative justifies the rising civilian deaths and humanitarian crisis.
@Sky News
