Israeli forces attack al-Razi school in Nuseirat and the al-Mawasi “security zone”, killing at least 42 Palestinians.
The Israeli military bombed another United Nations-run school and an Israeli-designed “security zone” in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 42 Palestinians and wounding dozens more, Palestinian officials said.
Israeli attacks on Tuesday hit the al-Razi UN school in the central Nuseirat refugee camp and a main street lined with market stalls in the southern al-Mawasi area, where thousands of displaced Palestinians had sought refuge.
At least 25 people were killed in al-Razi and 17 in al-Mawasi, the Gaza government media office said. More than 70 people were injured in the attacks.
A third Israeli attack on Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza also killed five other Palestinians, officials said.
The al-Razi bombing is the sixth Israeli attack on schools affiliated with the UN and its agencies in the past ten days.
Video footage verified by Sanad, Tel Aviv Tribune’s fact-checking agency, shows a young man carrying what appears to be remnants of the rockets that targeted the school.
“I cannot describe the horror of the bombing,” he said.
Among the dead was local journalist Mohammad Meshmesh. His death brings to 160 the number of journalists killed in the conflict, the Gaza government’s Media Office said.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, describes the chaotic scenes inside Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital on Tuesday after those injured in the school attack arrived.
“The Israeli attack on al-Razi Middle School, in the heart of the camp – a busy area – occurred during rush hour, when the streets around the overcrowded school were full of people,” Mahmoud said.
“Nowhere is safe”
The United Nations refugee agency (UNRWA) said Israeli forces have struck nearly 70 percent of its schools in Gaza since the war began last October.
“More than 95 per cent of these schools were used as shelters when they were hit. 539 people who had sought refuge in UNRWA premises were killed,” UNRWA said on X. “Nowhere is safe. The blatant disregard for UN premises and humanitarian law must stop.”
Hamas issued a statement denouncing “Israel’s deliberate shelling of displaced people in the UNRWA al-Razi school in Nuseirat camp and in the al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis city, which has been declared a safe area.”
“This is a brutal and shameful act that leaves a scar on humanity,” the group said, reiterating that Israel’s staunch ally, the United States, was complicit in the “genocide” in Gaza.
Tuesday’s airstrikes came as the Israeli military withdrew or scaled back its ground offensives in the north and south. They followed one of the deadliest weeks in the Gaza Strip since the conflict began, with at least 470 people killed between July 9 and 15.
At least 90 people were killed in an Israeli attack on al-Mawasi on Saturday. Israel said it targeted two senior members of Hamas’ military wing, including Mohammed Deif, but said it could not confirm whether he was actually killed in the attack.
Israeli forces have repeatedly struck al-Mawasi despite the coastal area being designated a “safe zone” and Palestinians fleeing ground attacks being ordered to take refuge there.
The continued bombardment comes as Israel and Hamas continue to discuss the latest ceasefire proposal. Hamas has said negotiations to end the nine-month war will continue even after Israel targeted Deif.
Israel said it would continue to hunt down Hamas fighters hiding among civilians after offensives uprooted underground tunnel networks.
At least 38,713 people have been killed and 89,166 injured in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7. The death toll from Hamas attacks in Israel is estimated at 1,139, with dozens still being held captive in Gaza.
