GAZA – Dozens of Palestinian civilians were martyred in an Israeli attack on a school housing families in the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Tuesday night. This is the fourth time the Israeli Occupation Forces (IDF) have bombed a school used as a shelter for Gaza residents.
Aljazirah quoted local medical sources as saying that Israeli fighter jets targeted the entrance of the al-Awda school in the town of Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis. Several others were also injured.
The Gaza Government Media Office said at least 29 Palestinian civilians were martyred in the attack, mostly women and children. “The latest massacre occurred after the occupation forces attacked six other displacement camps in the central Gaza Strip, bringing the total death toll to at least 60 people in the past few hours,” the media office said in a statement. The attack also happened as the health service sector in Gaza continues to collapse as Israeli forces force some hospitals to stop their services.
Israeli forces evacuated people in Rafah when the ground invasion began there, asking them to move to Khan Younis. Most of these people were evacuated to shelters, such as UN shelters and schools.
So especially towards the evening, the Palestinian people in shelters, in UN schools began to move, tidying up all their belongings during the day because they did not move at night. It is very clear that the number of victims will increase because this is the entrance – where everyone moves, children play.
No one knows exactly why Israeli forces are now directly targeting schools and UN shelters. They argued that every time they target a school, it means there is a Hamas base and Hamas fighters there. In fact, most of those injured or killed are Palestinian children and women.
This is the fourth Israeli attack in the past four days targeting schools used as shelters. On Saturday, an Israeli attack hit the al-Jawni school run by the UN in Nuseirat, central Gaza, killing 16 people, according to the health ministry in the area. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, said there were 2,000 people taking shelter there at the time.
The next day, an attack on the Holy Family school managed by a church in Gaza City killed four people, according to the civil defense agency. The Latin Patriarchate, the owner of the school, said hundreds of people crowded the courtyard.
Another UNRWA-managed school in Nuseirat was also attacked on Monday, and the local hospital said some people had been brought in for treatment. According to UNRWA, more than 500 people have been martyred in schools and other shelters it manages in Gaza since the war began on October 7.
