Israel said all three attacks targeted militants hiding in the schools.
Palestinian territories:
Palestinian sources said at least 29 people were killed on Tuesday in an attack on a school used to house displaced people in Gaza, the fourth such incident in four days, with Hamas blaming Israel for the deaths.
The Israeli military told AFP it had carried out an attack in the area and was investigating the incident. The country has admitted that three other attacks have been carried out on Gaza schools used as shelters since Saturday.
The attack hit the entrance to the Al-Awda school in Abasan, said a source at Nasser Hospital in the nearby southern town of Khan Yunis, where victims were taken, adding that 29 were killed and dozens wounded.
The Hamas-run government media agency accused Israel of committing a “terrible massacre” and also put the death toll at 29, saying the “majority” were women and children.
“We were sitting at the entrance of the school… suddenly and without warning, rockets were fired,” a witness, Mohammed Sukkar, told AFP of Tuesday’s attack.
The Israeli military said the air force had used “precision ammunition” to attack a “terrorist from the military wing of Hamas” near the school.
“The incident is under investigation,” the military said in a statement.
Officials in the Hamas-held area said at least 20 people were killed in the previous attacks on the schools.
Israel said all three attacks targeted militants hiding in the schools.
On Saturday, an Israeli attack hit the UN-run Al-Jawni school in Nuseirat, central Gaza, killing 16 people, according to the Health Ministry.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said 2,000 people were sheltering there at the time.
The next day, an attack on the Holy Family School in Gaza City killed four people, according to Gaza’s civil defense agency.
The Latin Patriarchate, owners of the school, said hundreds of people had stormed the site at the time.
Another UNRWA-run school in Nuseirat was hit on Monday. Several people were taken for treatment, according to a local hospital.
Israel said it had attacked “several terrorists” and used the school as cover.
Hamas has denied Israeli claims that it uses schools, hospitals and other civilian facilities for military purposes.
More than 500 people have died in schools and schools, according to UNRWA
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