Israeli strikes kill 52 in Gaza, including 36 in school-turned shelter

Turning to a major war happening elsewhere.

Israel continues pounding Gaza, killing dozens of people at a school used as a shelter.

Meantime, aid is trickling into the enclave after a months-long blockade.

Choi Chi-hee has the latest.

On Monday, a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City's Daraj neighborhood was one of the two targets hit by an Israeli airstrike.

Hundreds of people, mostly women and children, were sheltering there at the time.

"This isn't normal. What kind of missiles are they dropping? What are they doing? I don't understand. All of them were children -the three children were burned, along with their mother."

According to Gaza's Civil Defense, the attack, which reportedly occurred while occupants were sleeping, killed at least 36 individuals and injured dozens of others.

The Israel Defense Forces said the strikes targeted a Hamas and Islamic Jihad command and control center, believed to be operating within the school premises.

They asserted that the facility was being used for planning attacks against Israeli civilians and troops.

However, local witnesses and Palestinian officials have denied the presence of militants at the site.

"There is no military in it, there is not even a piece of a weapon in it."

In a separate strike, 16 people were killed when the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza was hit.

The attacks have drawn international condemnation, including from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who cautioned against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu taking excessive military actions.

Merz said he no longer "understands what Israel is trying to achieve."

Ireland's deputy prime minister said legislation for a potential ban on imports from Israeli settlements would be unveiled on Tuesday.

Also on Monday, a new aid system in Gaza, backed by the U.S., opened its first distribution hubs following months of being blockaded by Israel.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has taken over the handling of aid, and truckloads of food delivered to its hubs have begun to be distributed to Palestinians on the same day.

Choi Chi-hee, Arirang News.