Israeli air raids killed many Palestinians at the al-Fakhoora school, run by the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), the Jabalia refugee camp and another school in Tal al-Zaatar , also in the north of Gaza.
At least 50 people were killed in the attack on the al-Fakhoora school, the Palestinian Health Ministry announced on Saturday. According to the statement, the two attacks killed and injured hundreds of people.
Israeli attacks on schools, hospitals and public facilities “seem to be a trend at the moment,” said Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Multiple air raids inflicted serious destruction on the two schools, he added.
“Nearly 200 people have been killed in these attacks and this number is expected to rise as there are many under the rubble. People use shovels and bare hands to dig people up,” he explained.
Several hundred people are said to have found refuge in the two schools, fleeing incessant Israeli attacks. The attack on al-Fakhoora reportedly took place early in the morning, while that on Tal al-Zaatar occurred later in the day.
“Dead bodies are everywhere and medical teams are trying to evacuate the injured,” Tel Aviv Tribune’s Tareq Abou Azzoum said of al-Fakhoora school.
He said that with continued fighting amid the Israeli ground offensive in northern Gaza, many Palestinians were forced to flee to United Nations-run schools near the Indonesian hospital for protection. .
“The people taking refuge at the al-Fakhoora school in the Jabalia refugee camp, many of whom had health problems, thought they would find shelter from the violence there. But the Israeli army seems to be sending a message: flee to the south of the Gaza Strip,” he said.
Witnesses described the massive destruction of the al-Fakhoora school.
“The scenes were horrible. Corpses of women and children lay on the ground. Others were screaming for help,” injured survivor Ahmed Radwan told the Associated Press news agency by telephone. Photos from a local hospital showed more than 20 bodies wrapped in bloodstained sheets.
The Israeli army, which warned Jabalia residents and others in an Arabic social media post to leave, said only its troops were active in the area “with the aim of striking terrorists.”
Israel rarely comments on individual attacks, saying they only target Hamas.
“Nowhere is safe in Gaza”
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry condemned the renewed Israeli bombing of al-Fakhoora school and called for “an urgent international investigation and independent investigators to investigate Israel’s targeting of schools and hospitals in Gaza.”
UN relief chief Martin Griffiths said: “Shelters are a place of safety. Schools are a place of learning. Tragic news of children, women and men killed while sheltering at al-Fakhouri school in northern Gaza. Civilians cannot and should not have to endure this any longer. »
Shelters are a place of safety.
Schools are a place of learning.
Tragic news of children, women and men killed while sheltering at Al Fakhouri school in northern Gaza.
Civilians cannot and should not have to endure this any longer.
Humanity must prevail.
– Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) November 18, 2023
Tamara Alrifai, a spokesperson for UNRWA, told Tel Aviv Tribune she had seen the “devastating” images from Jabalia in the aftermath of the bombing, but could not establish direct contact with colleagues in the field.
“I am still waiting for reports directly from my colleagues in Gaza, but what we are seeing is another one of those horrible incidents, where civilians, people who sought refuge in a protected UN building, are paying the price “, she said.
Alrifai said more than half of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million residents were forced into an “exodus” to the south after an Israeli evacuation order to make way for its ground operations in the north, which is reminiscent of previous forced displacements.
“Many people who stayed in the north stayed in the UNRWA school because they thought they would find some security there, but nowhere is safe in Gaza, not even in our schools,” he said. she declared. “Unfortunately, people are fleeing to our blue flag buildings for protection, but 70 of our buildings have been hit, so we ourselves are not protected.”
Alrifai said that apart from Saturday’s attack, 66 people were confirmed killed while seeking shelter in UN-run facilities.
The “al-Shifa of schools”
The Jabalia refugee camp has been the target of air raids for weeks, with Israel saying it is sheltering Palestinian fighters.
The deadly bombing campaign continues despite condemnations from the UN and regional governments.
The Israeli army has also repeatedly struck schools and UN-run facilities. Its war on Gaza has so far killed more than 12,000 Palestinians, including 5,000 children.
The al-Fakhoora school had already been attacked several times by the Israeli army before the war. It was the target of air raids in 2009, 2014 and earlier this month.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said the school is like “Al-Shifa of schools” in Gaza as it has been hit repeatedly by Israeli forces, like al-Shifa hospital , Gaza’s largest hospital, which has been a main target since the start of the war. beginning of the war and besieged and attacked for days.
“There is nothing discriminatory about the fact that a school that houses thousands of people was bombed from the air; it aims to create damage, loss of life, suffering and death,” he said.
“When you attack a school with such a concentration of people inside, you send a message that goes beyond just ‘I’m going after Hamas fighters here and there.’ What he’s saying is, “I want people driven out, I want people to pay the price, I want people to die.” »
