IAF destroys 2 Gaza high-rises, strikes school used for mortar fire
Mortar that killed 4-year-old Daniel Tregerman fired from school bombed; both school and Gaza buildings received warnings to evacuate ahead of strike.
The IAF attacked 20 terror targets on Tuesday since midnight, among them two large high-rise building in Gaza City, a school used for mortar launching at Israel, and terrorists launching rockets at Gaza border communities.
The IAF attacked four terrorists who were firing rockets at the Gaza border communities from Saja'iyya and Jabaliya. The Palestinians reported the four were killed, and claimed they were employees of the local electricity company.
The Gaza police said early Tuesday morning the Air Force hit a 15-floor Basha Tower with dozens of homes and shops, which was leveled in the attack. The second building, the Italian Complex, which has 72 apartments and 60 stores and was built in the 1990s by an Italian businessman, badly damaged.
The towers were evacuated before the attacks. A Gaza health official said 25 people were wounded in the strike on the Italian Complex.
In the past, the military has hit targets in high-rises in pinpoint strikes, but left the buildings standing. Since Saturday, it has toppled or destroyed five towers and shopping complexes in an apparent new tactic aimed at increasing pressure on Hamas.
The IAF also attacked a school in Gaza City's al-Zaytun neighborhood, from where the mortar that killed 4-year-old Daniel Tregerman was fired, not before giving the refugees taking shelter in the school a warning to evacuate the premises.
The IDF spokesman said the mortar was fired from a boys' primary school Ali Bin Abi Talib.
"During the past week, there's been recurring rocket fire from that school to the (Israeli) Gaza border communities," the IDF said. "The school, which serves as a shelter for refugees, was attacked over 12 hours after the population was warned to evacuate it."
"Among the targets were terror targets in buildings serving as command and control centers for the terror organization Hamas," the IDF said.
Also Tuesday, two people were killed in an airstrike on a house in Gaza City, police said.
Gaza's war has so far killed at least 2,133 Palestinians and wounded more than 11,000, according to Palestinian health officials. The UN estimates more than 17,000 homes have been destroyed, leaving 100,000 people homeless.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
