GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories— The civil defense agency said on Sunday that 15 people were killed when the building was struck at a school where displaced people of the war were being housed and offered refuge. The course of the incident was described by the name of the Israeli military, according to which the attack was aimed at “terrorists. ”
Attack at Abu Araban School
The incident was at the UN-administered Abu Araban compound in the central Gaza Strip in Nuseirat camp. It is the fifth incident in which one school that transformed into a shelter was attacked in less than one week. According to Mahmud Bassal, a spokesman for the civil defense agency who spoke with AFP, the school currently accommodated “thousands of displaced people,” and most of the victims were females and children.
Context of the Strikes
The Israel defense force said its air force attacked several terrorists who were located close to the Abu Araban school, stating that the structure was being used as a shelter and launching pad for attacks against the Israeli soldiers. AFPTV footage showed that the affected three-storied complex had its walls blown out, rooms wrecked, and clothes hung over the railings.
Previous School Strikes
– July 6: The Israeli forces targeted the Nuseirat’s Al-Jawni school, which UNRWA also operates. Around 2,000 people were living there at the time of the disaster.
– 7 July: Holy Family church school in Gaza City was attacked; seven people were killed altogether.
– July 8: Another school in Nuseirat was attacked, yet again, Israel said that they hit terrorists.
– July 9: At least 29 people were killed when a strike was carried out at the entrance of al-Awda school in Khan Yunis, sources from hospital.
The Israelis posit that while there is evidence that Gaza’s leadership deliberately places schools, hospitals, and other human shields in actual combat, the Hamas movement vehemently refutes the same. These have primarily been a subject of intense focus; the frequent acts of violence against such facilities have raised concerns across the international community.
France and Germany have urged for an investigation into school strikes. Following the Al-Jawni strike, UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma told AFP that the schools were closed and transformed into shelters when the fighting began. She also observed that more than half of the large number of facilities under UNRWA in Gaza have been targeted with attacks that include two humanitarian aid shelters and hundreds of others, a total of 190 facilities of UNRWA, more than a hundred of which have been attacked repeatedly in the retaliatory military operation against Hamas’ action on October 7.
As of now, the condition in Gaza is still deplorable, and social belongings, in particular, as well as international demands for postmortem and aid, are increasing.
