Gaza rescuers say charred bodies recovered as Israeli strikes kill 17

Gaza's civil defense agency on Wednesday said its crew recovered charred bodies from a school-turned-shelter for displaced people, as Israeli strikes killed 17 people in the Hamas-run territory since dawn.

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.

"Seventeen people have been killed since dawn," civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

He said 11 of the victims, who included women and children, died in an airstrike targeting the Yafa school building in Gaza City's Al-Tuffah neighborhood.

"The school was housing displaced people. The bombing sparked a massive blaze, and several charred bodies have since been recovered," he said.

Since October 7, 2023, tens of thousands of Gazans displaced by Israel's retaliatory offensive have sought refuge in schools to escape the violence.

Aid agencies estimate that the vast majority of Gaza's 2.4 million residents have been displaced at least once since the war began.

Bassal said his crew has received distress calls from several areas in Gaza.

"We lack the necessary tools and equipment to carry out effective rescue operations or recover the bodies of martyrs," he added.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military stated that it had targeted approximately 40 "engineering vehicles," alleging they were being used for "terror purposes."

Bassal said airstrikes destroyed bulldozers and other equipment needed to "clear debris and recover the bodies of martyrs from beneath the rubble," as well as to "save lives, pull people from the rubble."

Elsewhere in Gaza, additional fatalities were reported on Wednesday.

A child was killed in an airstrike on a home in the northern Jabalia area, and another individual was killed in a similar incident in the southern city of Khan Yunis, the civil defense said.

Four more people were killed in Israeli shelling of homes in eastern Gaza City. Several others remain trapped beneath the rubble, according to Bassal.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the latest strikes.

Israel’s military campaign in Gaza since October 7, 2023 Hamas attack has killed over 51,266 people, created a massive humanitarian crisis, and widespread displacement.

Hamas’ cross-border raid into Israeli territory claimed 1,218 lives. It also took more than 250 people captive.