Israel attack on Gaza school kills 27, Hamas commander dies in Lebanon

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 100 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including 27 or more sheltering at a school, according to Palestinian medical authorities, as the military offensive to pressure Hamas ramped up.

The bodies of 14 children and five women were recovered from the school in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City with 70 sustaining criticial injuries, the Health Ministry spokesman said. 

The Israeli military said it struck a "Hamas command and control center" in the Gaza City area, insisting steps were taken to reduce civilian harm. It also accused the fighters of deliberately using civilian infrastructure as bases. Hamas denies that it operates among civilians.

The strikes come as Israel's military ordered more residents in parts of northern Gaza to move west and south to shelters, warning that it planned to "work with extreme force in your area." A number of the Palestinians leaving the targeted areas did so on foot.

Israel has issued sweeping evacuation orders for parts of northern Gaza ahead of expected ground operations. The UN humanitarian office said around 280,000 Palestinians have been displaced since Israel ended the ceasefire with Hamas last month.

The fresh evacuation orders came a day after senior government officials said Israel would seize large parts of the Palestinian territory and establish a new security corridor across it. To pressure Hamas, Israel has imposed a month-long blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages.

Hamas says it will only release the remaining 59 hostages - 24 of whom are believed to be alive - in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli pullout from Gaza. The group has rejected demands that it lay down its arms or leave the territory.

Hamas commander killed

Israel killed a commander of Hamas in an airstrike on southern Lebanon on Friday, further testing a ceasefire that halted last year's war between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah group.

The Israeli military said the targeted militant, Hassan Farhat, was behind a rocket attack on the city of Safed last year that killed and wounded several Israeli soldiers. It vowed to act against Hamas fighters "wherever they operate."

A security source said Farhat was killed along with his son and daughter in the strike in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon. Hamas' armed wing the al-Qassam Brigades said Farhat was assassinated in his apartment in Sidon, and praised his "blessed contributions".

Hamas and Hezbollah are allies, and Hezbollah launched a campaign of cross border strikes on Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian group in 2023. Israel responded with a major air and ground campaign in Lebanon last year that killed much of the Hezbollah leadership.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's office said Friday's Israeli attack was a clear violation of a U.S.-backed ceasefire which ended last year's war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The ceasefire has appeared increasingly precarious in recent weeks, with Israel striking the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut twice and rockets being fired on two occasions from Lebanon towards Israel.

Israeli war plans for Gaza

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel was establishing a security corridor across Gaza to pressure Hamas, suggesting it would cut off the southern city of Rafah, which Israel has ordered evacuated, from the rest of the Palestinian territory.

Israel has also reasserted control over the Netzarim corridor, a military zone that separates the northern third of Gaza from the rest of the narrow strip. Both that and another corridor, along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, run from the Israeli border to the Mediterranean Sea.

Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel plans to maintain overall security control of Gaza after the war and implement U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle much of its population elsewhere through what the Israeli leader referred to as "voluntary emigration."