An Israeli airstrike on a UN school in central Gaza, which was sheltering hundreds of displaced individuals, has resulted in at least 27 deaths, according to local officials.
The Israeli military stated that the strike targeted a “Hamas compound” within the UN school. Local journalists reported that an Israeli warplane fired two missiles at classrooms on the top floor of the school located in the Nuseirat refugee camp. The Hamas media office condemned the attack, calling it a “horrific massacre.”
Ambulances and rescue teams were seen rushing the wounded and deceased to a nearby hospital. Footage on social media showed destroyed classrooms and bodies wrapped in shrouds at a morgue. An injured woman in one video cried out, “Enough war! We have been displaced dozens of times. They killed our children while they were sleeping.”
Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas media office, denied Israel’s claims that the UN school housed a Hamas command post, accusing Israel of using “false fabricated stories to justify the brutal crime it conducted against dozens of displaced people.”
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) asserted that jets had executed a “precise strike on a Hamas compound embedded inside an Unrwa school in the area of Nuseirat.” The IDF claimed the strike killed Hamas and Islamic Jihad “terrorists” involved in the 7 October attack on southern Israel, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 251 hostages taken.
Since then, at least 36,580 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The IDF mentioned that measures were taken prior to the airstrike to “reduce the risk of harming uninvolved civilians.
Earlier, the Israeli military announced it had gained “operational control” over eastern areas of the Bureij refugee camp and the town of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where dozens of Palestinians were reported killed.
Residents described intense bombardment, and the charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that at least 70 bodies, mostly women and children, had been brought to a local hospital since Tuesday. MSF’s medical team on the ground described the situation at Deir al-Balah’s al-Aqsa hospital, one of the few remaining functional health facilities in central Gaza, as “apocalyptic.”
An Israeli airstrike on a UN school in central Gaza, sheltering hundreds of displaced individuals, has left at least 27 dead, according to local officials. The strike, targeting what the Israeli military claimed was a “Hamas compound,” resulted in significant casualties and widespread devastation. Local journalists reported two missiles hitting classrooms on the top floor of the Nuseirat refugee camp school. The attack has been condemned by the Hamas media office as a “horrific massacre,” with footage on social media showing destroyed classrooms and bodies wrapped in shrouds at a morgue. The incident has further intensified the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, already reeling from weeks of conflict.
