Updates: At least 39 killed by Israel in Gaza over last 24 hours

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To know more about an Israeli attack that sparked a fire at a Gaza City school sheltering displaced people, including a child who burned to death in the blaze, read here.

For an in-depth examination on whether the forced transfer of Palestinians is Israel’s ultimate goal, watch here.

And, you can find all our coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza here.

But, before signing off, here are the latest updates:

• At least 39 bodies and 105 wounded people arrived at Gaza Strip hospitals over the past 24 hours, the Gaza Health Ministry has said.
• The foreign ministers of Germany, France and the UK have jointly called on Israel to adhere to international law by allowing the unhindered passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza, in a statement released today.
• At least 50 Palestinians, including minors, women and previously released prisoners, have been detained by Israeli forces in the past 24 hours, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report.
• The threatening buzz of an Israeli surveillance drone could be heard by residents of the Lebanese capital. Beirut, this morning.
• Reuters and AFP news agencies are reporting that a Hamas delegation is heading to the Egyptian capital, Cairo, for a new round of discussions aimed at securing the release of captives and ending Israel’s war on Gaza.

An infuriated Palestinian man cried out words of anguish and anger during the funeral of people who were killed earlier today in an Israeli air strike on a school in the Tuffah neighbourhood east of Gaza City.

“Arab countries are watching us, and Islamic countries are watching – where is Islam when the child gets dismembered?” the man was heard screaming.

“There is no good in a nation where children are killed, shame on you, Muslims.”

As we reported earlier, an Israeli air strike hit a school-turned-shelter in northern Gaza City. Those who survived have been inspecting the rubble and destruction.

“My three cousins – three children – were lost. They were pulled out, completely charred,” said wounded Palestinian Ahmed Basal. Israel resumed its military campaign in Gaza on March 18, following the collapse of a two-month ceasefire that had largely halted the fighting in the besieged Palestinian territory.

“We were asleep when suddenly we saw a light like the light of the Day of Judgement – fire everywhere. I grabbed my daughters and ran. They were injured, and their father was in the bathroom. The girls were screaming for him, and we lost each other,” said Bisan al-Kafarneh, a displaced Palestinian from Beit Hanoon seeking shelter inside the school.

“As we were fleeing, they bombed the school again. People were screaming, women were crying and searching for their relatives. I don’t know what to say, people here were burned – burned alive,” al-Kafarneh said.

Her two daughters were wounded, the woman explained, one in her back and one in her leg. But medics at al-Shifa Hospital could assist only by sterilising the wounds as there were no bandages to use.

“They’re also filthy and people are lying on the ground.”

Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 24 Palestinians since dawn on Wednesday.

One of the biggest was on a school in Gaza City, targeting a school in the Tuffah neighbourhood, which was housing displaced families.

It set the building on fire, and at least 10 people, including a child, were burned to death.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud has updates from Gaza City:

The foreign ministers of Germany, France and the UK have jointly called on Israel to adhere to international law by allowing the unhindered passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza, in a statement released today.

“Humanitarian aid must never be used as a political tool and Palestinian territory must not be reduced nor subjected to any demographic change,” the ministers said.

Israel has enforced a total blockade on Gaza since March 2, refusing to allow the passage of any supplies, including food, medicine, fuel and commercial goods, into the Gaza Strip. It has explicitly said it is using the denial of life-sustaining materials to pressure Hamas into accepting its terms for a deal to release the remaining Israeli captives in Gaza.

At least 50 Palestinians, including minors, women and previously released prisoners, have been detained by Israeli forces in the past 24 hours, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report.

Sources told Al Jazeera the arrest campaign was concentrated in the town of Kobar, north of Ramallah, where at least 24 people were arrested. Approximately 16 of these were identified, including former prisoner Hanan Barghouti and other former prisoners.

The home of Nael Barghouti – the longest-serving Palestinian inmate in an Israeli prison, who was released in late February and deported to Egypt – was turned into military barracks and an interrogation centre for dozens of Palestinians, they said.

Israeli forces also stormed the city of ad-Dhahiriya, south of Hebron, at dawn today, searching Palestinian homes and arresting 10 Palestinians, including three members of the municipal council.

Among other locations, arrests took place in the cities of Azzun and Bethlehem, and the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus.

As of April this year, Israel had imprisoned about 9,792 Palestinians, 3,498 of whom are detained without charges.

The threatening buzz of an Israeli surveillance drone could be heard by residents of the Lebanese capital this morning.

Israeli drones have made several appearances over Beirut in the past week, and yesterday, a drone attack killed a member of al-Jamaa al-Islamiya’s armed wing in Baawerta, about 20km (12.5 miles) south of Beirut.

We have more on the Israeli attack on the Moh El Dorra Pediatric Hospital in Gaza City overnight.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza says the bombing caused “significant damage” to the hospital’s intensive care unit as well as its solar panel system.

The ministry condemned the attack, called for global action and said, “The occupation does not stop at preventing medicine and food from reaching the children of Gaza, and is also depriving them of life.”

A health ministry spokesperson has said kidney dialysis patients in Gaza are struggling to receive treatment, adding that hundreds have died.

More than 400 people, representing 40 percent of Gaza’s kidney patients, have died during the war due to a lack of treatment, the spokesperson said.

The shortage of dialysis equipment in the Strip is exacerbated by a shortage of kidney medication, they added.

Palestinians in Gaza are facing a growing humanitarian disaster, further worsened by a blockade of all medical and food supplies imposed by Israel since early March.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has issued a sharp condemnation of the Netanyahu-led government’s handling of the ongoing war.

“It’s time to recognize the facts: this government is incapable of winning the war,” Lapid said in a post on X.

“They had a year and a half, received full support from the Americans, full support from the opposition, and the excuses are over.”

According to Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, sharp words were exchanged between far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Defence Minister Israel Katz, military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

At the meeting, Katz had proposed that the distribution of aid in Gaza would be carried out by either the Israeli army or by American soldiers, adding that previous methods of distribution only strengthened Hamas.

The military’s Zamir, however, objected, saying the soldiers “will not distribute humanitarian aid, and we will not starve the Gaza Strip”, to which Smotrich reportedly replied that the military “doesn’t choose its own missions”.

“If you’re saying you’re incapable of appointing someone, then you can be replaced,” Smotrich was quoted as saying.

At one point during the cabinet meeting, Smotrich also walked out while Shin Bet’s Bar was speaking. Bar is currently entangled in a political feud with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had ordered his dismissal. The order, however, was temporarily halted by the court.

Smotrich had refused to attend an earlier cabinet meeting, saying that he would not be involved in a discussion with Bar present, saying the latter had been fired from the government.

The deadly attack on Jaffa School today is the latest in a series of Israeli assaults on schools housing displaced Palestinians in Gaza.

Aid agencies say Israeli forces have destroyed or damaged some 95 percent of the territory’s schools since October 2023.

Let’s take a look at some of the deadliest attacks:

• Earlier this month, at least 33 Palestinians were killed and more than 100 wounded in air attacks on three schools in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City.
• In two attacks in November that were two weeks apart, the Israeli military struck the Al Fakhoura school in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, killing at least 65 people.
• In August, more than 100 people were killed when Israeli forces bombed the al-Tabin School in Gaza City as Palestinians gathered for their morning prayers.
• In July, the Israeli military killed at least 30 people in an attack on al-Awda School located in the southern town of Abasan, near Khan Younis.
• In November 2023, shortly after the start of the war, Israeli bombs and artillery strikes killed at least 50 people, including children, inside the al-Buraq School in Gaza City.

UN experts have previously said Israel’s attacks on civilian institutions such as schools and hospitals could amount to war crimes.

Wafa news agency reports that Israeli bulldozers were razing land belonging to Palestinians earlier this morning between the towns of Kifl Haris and Haris, northwest of Salfit in the occupied West Bank.

The report cited Omar Samara, a local authority figure, who said that Israeli troops started levelling large areas of agricultural land owned by residents of Haris, intending to annexe more land for illegal settlements in the area.

Israeli authorities have been stepping up land-grabbing operations, land destruction and house demolition across the Palestinian territory since the establishment of Israel’s government, the most right wing in its history, which counts settlers themselves among its ministers.

In 2024, Israel illegally claimed 24.7sq km (9.54sq miles) of Palestinian land, exceeding the total land seized over the past 20 years combined.