An airstrike by the Israel Defense Forces on a school-turned-shelter killed at least 60 people and injured dozens more on Saturday morning, according to Palestinian health officials, in one of the deadliest days in the 10-month war as mediators discussed ongoing efforts to de-escalate soaring tensions in the region. The death toll is expected to rise.
The strikes hit the Tabeen school in Gaza City, including the mosque inside it, during dawn prayers.
The Israel Defense Forces said it was targeting a Hamas command center embedded in the school, and that “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians,” including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and intelligence information.
Hamas denied that there was a command center in the school and in a statement, called the strike a “heinous massacre.”
NBC News is unable to independently verify whether there was a command center at the school.
Mohammed Al-Mogher, of Gaza’s Civil Defense, told NBC News that missiles tore through the school, where an estimated 4,200 displaced people were sheltering, before fire spread across the building.
Al-Mogher, who heads the agency’s documentation department, said the process of identifying the bodies was “extremely complex.”
“Most of them have not been identified due to the disappearance of their features and the melting of the bodies, as most of them were molten remains,” he said, adding that there were more than 60 bodies missing, and that most of the injured were in critical condition, with complete burns and amputated limbs.
Some have died on the operating tables, “due to a lack of medical equipment,” Al-Mogher said.
The civil defense, he added, continued to suffer from severe shortages, “and are working with simple manual equipment, which has not enabled the teams to perform their duties effectively and save lives.”
Mahmoud Saber Basal, an official spokesperson for the civil defense, said on Telegram that there were still large quantities of body parts and torn bodies inside the Arab National Hospital that have not been identified.
According to the United Nations, 477 out of 564 schools in Gaza have been directly hit or damaged since the current conflict began on October 7.
The latest strike came during renewed efforts to de-escalate soaring tensions in the region following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have continued to push for Israel and Hamas to achieve a cease-fire agreement. On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to discuss de-escalating tensions.
Spokesperson Matthew Miller said Blinken reiterated the urgent need to reach a cease-fire in Gaza that would secure the release of hostages, allow a surge of humanitarian assistance, and create the conditions for broader regional stability.
Hamas said the latest strike was “a dangerous escalation,” and called on the international community to “take urgent action to stop these massacres.”