An Israeli airstrike hit a United Nations school in central Gaza on Wednesday killing at least 34 people, including 19 women and children, hospital officials said.
The strike targeted the al-Jaouni Boys Preparatory School in the Nuseirat refugee camp, which was sheltering displaced Palestinian families, officials said.
The Israeli military stated it was targeting Hamas militants who were allegedly planning attacks from within the school. This claim has not been independently verified.
At least 14 dead from the strike, including two children and a woman, were brought to Awda and al-Aqsa Martyrs hospitals nearby, officials from the facilities said. At least 18 people were wounded in the strike, they said.
A Palestinian woman gestures at the courtyard of a school after an Israeli airstrike hit the site, in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on Sept. 11, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. An Israeli airstrike on Sept. 11 hit a central Gaza school, with the Hamas-run territory’s civil defense agency reporting 10 killed in the facility turned displacement shelter and the military saying it had targeted militants.
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One of the deceased children was identified as the daughter of Momin Selmi, a member of Gaza’s civil defense agency. Selmi had not seen his daughter for 10 months as he remained in northern Gaza while his family had fled south.
The al-Jaouni Boys Preparatory School, run by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), has been struck multiple times during the ongoing conflict. Schools in Gaza, often used as shelters by tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians, have been frequent targets.
Israel said that Hamas militants use these facilities for military purposes. It blames Hamas for civilian casualties from its strikes, saying its fighters base themselves and operate among civilians.
A survey by the Education Cluster, which includes UNICEF and Save the Children, revealed that more than 90% of Gaza’s school buildings have sustained damage, with over half the schools used as shelters for displaced people having been hit.
Since Israel’s campaign in Gaza began 11 months ago, at least 41,084 Palestinians have been killed and 95,029 wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The campaign was launched in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants, which resulted in approximately 1,200 Israeli deaths and 250 abductions.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, an Israeli strike killed five people in the northern town of Tubas, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The military said it was targeting a group of militants. The ministry did not specify whether the dead were militants or civilians.
Israel has stepped up its military raids across the West Bank, saying it is working to dismantle militant groups and prevent attacks. Palestinians say such operations are aimed at cementing Israel’s seemingly open-ended military rule over the territory.
A driver crashed a fuel truck into a bus stop in the central West Bank, injuring one person in what the Israeli military said was an attack targeting troops operating there. Officials said that soldiers and an armed civilian had “neutralized” the attacker, but it was not immediately clear whether that meant he had been killed.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press
