29 killed in strike on Gaza school, say Palestinian sources

Palestinian sources said at least 29 people were killed Tuesday in a strike on a school being used to shelter displaced people in Gaza, the fourth such incident in four days, with Hamas blaming Israel for the deaths.

Israel’s military told AFP it had carried out a strike in the area and was reviewing the incident. It has acknowledged carrying out three other strikes since Saturday on Gaza schools being used as shelters.

The strike hit the entrance to Al-Awda school in Abasan, said a source at Nasser hospital in the nearby southern city of Khan Yunis, where victims were taken, adding that 29 were killed and dozens wounded.

The Hamas-run government media office accused Israel of carrying out a “terrible massacre” and also gave the death toll as 29, saying the “majority” were women and children.

“We were sitting at the entrance of the school... suddenly and without warning, rockets were fired,” a witness, Mohammed Sukkar, told AFP about Tuesday’s strike.

The Israel military said the air force had used “precise munition” to strike a “terrorist from Hamas’ military wing” near the school.

“The incident is under review,” the military said in a statement.

Officials in the Hamas-run territory said at least 20 people were killed in the earlier attacks on the schools.

Israel said all three of those strikes had targeted militants hiding in the schools.

On Saturday, an Israeli strike hit the UN-run Al-Jawni school in Nuseirat, central Gaza, killing 16 people, according to the health ministry.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said 2,000 people were sheltering there at the time.

The following day a strike on the Holy Family school in Gaza City killed four, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.

The Latin Patriarchate, owners of the school, said hundreds of people had packed the grounds at the time.

Another UNRWA-run school in Nuseirat was hit on Monday. A local hospital said several people were taken in for treatment.

Israel said it had targeted “several terrorists” using the school for cover.

Hamas has denied Israeli claims that it uses schools, hospitals and other civilian facilities for military aims.

According to UNRWA, more than 500 people have been killed in schools and other shelters it runs in Gaza since the war started on 7 October with the Hamas attack on Israel.