Israeli air strikes at schools, hospital in Gaza kill 44 more

GAZA STRIP
Israeli strikes hit two schools and a hospital in Gaza, killing more than 40 Palestinians and leaving dozens of others injured, the Palestinian official news agency said.
Israel has struck at least 172 “designated shelters”, mostly schools, housing thousands of displaced families in past over 10 months, the Hamas-run government media office said, while the Israeli military claimed it struck a Hamas military compound “embedded in the schools”.
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.
As an Israeli air strike hit a hospital in central Gaza, health officials said at least 44 Palestinians were killed on Sunday.
The Palestinian official 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 accused Hamas of operating from within civilian property, though Hamas denies using civilian institutions for military purposes.
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.
The Israeli military said it struck a militant who “conducted terror activities” and that secondary explosions indicated weapons were present in the area.
The hospital compound is in Deir Al-Balah, an area crowded with families displaced by fighting in other parts of the enclave.