More than 30 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes on a pair of schools in Gaza on Sunday, as tensions rise in the Middle East amid fear of a wider regional war between Israel and Iran.
The Israeli military struck the Hassan Salama and Nasser schools in Gaza City, where thousands of displaced Gazans were staying, killing at least 30 and leaving another 16 missing, according to Gazan authorities.
The military said, “Numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, surveillance, and additional intelligence,” though a witness told The Washington Post that the attack killed multiple women and children.
The strike came the same day as a West Bank Palestinian man stabbed two Israelis to death and injured two others in a terror attack in a Tel Aviv suburb.
Tensions in the region are on edge after Israel killed a pair of Hamas leaders, including its most senior leader, in strikes on Tehran and Beirut last week. The Iranian government has vowed revenge, while its ally militant group Hezbollah is also increasing its skirmish attacks on the Israeli border.
Israeli lawmakers have openly called for war in Lebanon against Hezbollah, while the U.S. has also urged Americans to leave Lebanon as soon as possible, wary of future conflict.
Deputy national security adviser Jonathan Finer said in a CBS “Face the Nation” interview on Sunday that the U.S. is working to lower tensions between Israel and Hezbollah after months of skirmishes.
“What we’re trying to do is prepare for any eventuality,” he said. “Obviously, we’ve been quite clear that we will work with our ally Israel to defend itself against key threats that it faces, and we are in a moment that appears to be a heightened threat.”
The U.S. also ordered a carrier group and additional fighter aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean on Friday in deterrence of any Hezbollah or Iranian attack on Israel.
Finer said the move is “entirely focused on defending Israel against potential threats it may face, and out of our desire to both deter those threats, defend against them, and ultimately deescalate the situation and avoid it sliding into a regional war.”