Newslooks/ DEIR AL-BALAH/ Gaza Strip/ Israeli airstrikes across Gaza targeted a U.N. school and residential homes on Tuesday and Wednesday, killing at least 34 people, including 19 women and children. The deadliest strike occurred at a U.N.-run school in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, where Israeli forces claimed Hamas militants were present. The strikes come amid an ongoing 11-month campaign by Israel against Hamas, which has led to over 41,000 Palestinian deaths. Gaza hospitals are struggling with the surge in casualties, as thousands of displaced Palestinians seek refuge in damaged schools.
Key Bullet Points:
- Israeli airstrikes hit a U.N. school and homes in Gaza, killing 34 people, including 19 women and children.
- The Al-Jaouni Preparatory Boys School was struck, with Israel claiming Hamas militants were operating from there.
- Thousands of displaced Palestinians are taking refuge in schools, many of which have been damaged by airstrikes.
- Gaza’s Health Ministry reports over 41,000 Palestinian deaths and nearly 95,000 injuries since Israel’s campaign began.
- Strikes also targeted homes in Khan Younis and Jabaliya, killing several families, including six siblings from one family.
- Israel’s ongoing military campaign was launched after the October 7 Hamas attack, which killed 1,200 Israelis.
Israeli airstrikes hit UN school & homes in Gaza, leave at least 34 dead
Israeli airstrikes across Gaza late Tuesday and Wednesday targeted a U.N. school sheltering displaced Palestinian families, along with two residential homes, killing at least 34 people, including 19 women and children, according to hospital officials.
The deadliest incident occurred Wednesday afternoon, when the U.N.’s Al-Jaouni Preparatory Boys School in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp was hit. Israeli forces claimed they were targeting Hamas militants planning attacks from within the school, though this could not be independently verified.
Hospital officials from Awda and al-Aqsa Martyrs hospitals confirmed that at least 14 people, including two children and a woman, died in the strike, with another 18 individuals injured.
One of the children killed was the daughter of Momin Selmi, a member of Gaza’s civil defense agency. The agency, which works on rescuing victims of airstrikes, noted that Selmi had not seen his daughter for 10 months, as he stayed in northern Gaza for work while his family relocated south.
Thousands of Palestinians displaced by Israeli offensives are seeking refuge in schools across Gaza. The al-Jaouni school, run by the U.N. agency for Palestinians (UNWRA), has been hit several times during the ongoing conflict.
Israel frequently targets schools, claiming that Hamas militants use them as bases for operations. The Israeli military argues that Hamas is responsible for civilian casualties due to its presence in densely populated areas. A July survey by the Education Cluster, led by UNICEF and Save the Children, reported that over 90% of Gaza’s schools had been severely or partially damaged, and more than half of the schools housing displaced families had been affected by strikes.
As of Wednesday, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that Israel’s ongoing campaign, launched 11 months ago following the October 7 attack by Hamas, has resulted in the deaths of at least 41,084 Palestinians, with 95,029 others injured. Israel has vowed to dismantle Hamas in retaliation for the attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis and resulted in 250 kidnappings.
Earlier Wednesday, another airstrike hit a home near Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing 11 people, including six siblings from one family, aged between 21 months and 21 years. These victims were brought to the European Hospital.
Late Tuesday, a separate strike on a home in Jabaliya, a densely populated refugee camp in northern Gaza, killed nine people, including six women and children. The home belonged to Akram al-Najjar, a professor at al-Quds Open University, who survived the attack, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and civil defense officials.
