Israel-Gaza updates: US is 'strengthening' military force in Middle East

Scores have been killed following a strike on Al-Tabeen School in Gaza City early Saturday.

Al-Tabeen School is in Al Darj area of Gaza city and the school was housing hundreds of displaced persons, officials in Gaza said.

Many of the displaced people sheltering at the school had been performing dawn prayers at the time of the strike, according to the Government Information Office in Gaza.

Initial reports from Gaza officials said almost 100 people have been killed and dozens wounded, with an official casualty count expected to come from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

"Today, an Air Force aircraft attacked, under the intelligence guidance of the Israel Defense Forces, the Shin Bet and the Southern Command, terrorists who were operating in a military headquarters located in the 'Al-Tabin' school complex near the mosque in Darje Tafah area, which is used as a shelter for the residents of Gaza City," read a statement from the IDF following the strike.

Gaza’s Civil Defence said two floors of the school were targeted: the first was housing women and the ground was a prayer hall for the displaced.

There were a total of “93 martyrs, including 11 children and 6 women, as a result of the massacre committed by the occupation against the displaced people in the Al-Tabaeen School in the Al-Daraj neighborhood," according to the Gaza Civil Defense.

The State Department has ended its investigation into allegations of human rights abuses committed by an Israel Defense Forces unit known as the "Netzah Yehuda" battalion and decided against withholding U.S. aid over the matter, according to U.S. officials.

The State Department had extended its review by several months in order to "evaluate new information" provided by the Israeli government, spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement to ABC News.

"After thoroughly reviewing that information, we have determined that violations by this unit have also been effectively remediated," Patel said. "Consistent with the Leahy process, this unit can continue receiving security assistance from the United States of America."

According to a U.S. official, Israel informed the U.S. that after its military prosecutors determined two soldiers connected to the unit should be penalized, they were removed from combat positions, have since left the military and are now ineligible to serve in the reserves.

Additionally, the official said that Israel told the U.S. the IDF had taken several steps to avoid future violations of rights, including enhancing screening requirements for personnel recruited into the battalion, implementing new control mechanisms during the soldiers' training, requiring a two-week education seminar unique to the unit, and documenting conduct of its members.

ABC News has also learned that the government of Israel told the State Department that the two soldiers were referred for prosecution, but that the case could not move forward because witnesses declined to cooperate.

The reported offenses that were under investigation occurred in the West Bank and happened before the attacks of Oct. 7.

-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston

Hamas confirmed that Samer Mahmoud al-Haj, one of its local commanders, was killed in an Israeli attack on the Lebanese city of Saida. Although the commander is not high-ranked, his killing has triggered protests in Ayn al-Hilweh, which is the biggest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon.

The Israeli Defense Forces confirmed the attack in a statement, saying al-Haj was responsible for advancing terror attacks and projectile launches from Lebanon toward Israeli territory.

"Samer operated as the military forces' commander in the Ain al-Hilweh camp located in the area of Sidon and was responsible for the recruitment and training of terrorists to attack the State of Israel," the IDF said in a statement.

-ABC News' Nasser Atta and Bruno Nota

For at least the fourth time in the past month, the Israel Defense Forces raided the eastern part of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Israeli forces have killed at least 29 people in the central and southern areas of Gaza so far on Friday, including 19 in Khan Younis, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

The IDF ordered civilians east of Khan Younis to evacuate Thursday. On Friday morning, the IDF announced that its troops have begun "operational activity in the Khan Younis area" after receiving "intelligence indicating the presence of terrorists and terror infrastructure."

The IDF withdrew from the east of Khan Younis just 10 days ago.

Since dawn on Friday, there have been dozens of bombardments and shelling in various areas across war-torn Gaza, including the southern city of Khan Younis. The hardest-hit areas were Al-Maghazi camp, east of Al-Nuseirat camp; the eastern areas of Khan Younis; Bait Lahia in the north of Gaza; and Zaytoon neighborhood in the east of Gaza City.

At least 23 people have been killed in the central and southern areas of Gaza so far on Friday, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health.