JEBALIYA REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip -- Israeli tank shells slammed into a crowded U.N. school sheltering Gaza war refugees Wednesday, killing 15 Palestinians and wounding 90 after tearing through two classroom walls, a health official and a spokesman for a U.N. aid agency said. The Israeli military said mortar shells had been fired from near the school, and that soldiers fired back.
The strike in the Jebaliya refugee camp came amid Israel's heaviest air and artillery assault in more than three weeks of Israel-Hamas fighting. Tuesday marked the deadliest day so far, with 128 Palestinians killed, according to a Gaza health official. About two hours after the strike, hundreds of people still crowded the courtyard, some dazed, others wailing. Aishe Abu Darabeh, 56, sat on the ground with her relatives, just a few meters from the destroyed classroom. "Where will we go?" she asked. "Where will we go next? We fled and they (the Israelis) are following us." On Wednesday, the military said it hit 75 sites, including five mosques it claimed were being used by militants. The overall Palestinian death toll rose to at least 1,258, with more than 7,100 wounded, according to a Gaza health official. Israel has lost 53 soldiers and three civilians.
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