Death toll in Israeli attack on school rises to 14
A spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defence says that at least 14 people, including two UNRWA staff, women and children, have been killed in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.
Israeli jets struck an UNRWA-run school-turned-shelter for the internally displaced known as al-Jaouni.
Palestinian Civil Defence said at least 18 people were wounded, some critically, as its teams are still working to recover bodies and look for survivors.
Israeli army issues statement on Nuseirat attack
The Israeli army has issued a statement about the air attack on the school-turned-shelter for displaced people in Nuseirat, claiming that the air force targeted a Hamas command and control centre.
Without providing evidence, it said the compound was used to plan and carry out attacks against Israeli forces in Gaza and against Israel.
As we’ve reported, children are among the at least nine people killed, with the death toll expected to rise.
Israel ‘contradicts’ itself by claiming Nuseirat attack targeted Hamas
It was a massive strike that hit a very densely populated area of the Nuseirat refugee camp that the Israeli army has designated as “a safe zone”.
The grim reality is that the Israeli army is bombing the UN-run shelters under the pretext of them being used as control and command centres by the Palestinian armed groups.
Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant just two days ago said that Hamas as a military formation does not exist any more as the Israeli forces managed to eradicate the vast majority of its military capabilities.
Now, the question is, if these capabilities have been diminished in a considerable manner, who is Israel attacking at the moment?
At least six schools-turned-shelters targeted by Israel since August
As we’ve been reporting, Israeli jets struck a school in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip, killing at least 14 people, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence.
This UNRWA-run school – al-Jaouni – is at least the
sixth to be targeted by Israeli shelling or air raids since August 1:
- On August 1, at least 15 people were killed and more than 29 injured in an Israeli attack on the Dalal al-Mughrabi School.
- On August 3, at least 16 people were killed in an Israeli air raid on Hamama school for the internally displaced in Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, north of Gaza City.
- On August 4, at least 30 people were killed following Israeli air raids on the Nassr and Hassan Salama schools, west of Gaza City.
- On August 8, Israel bombed Abdul Fattah Hamouda and az-Zahra schools, killing 17 and injuring dozens more.
- On August 10, more than 100 people were killed and 150 were injured after multiple Israeli bombs hit al-Tabin School, east of Gaza City.
‘Tremendous size of destruction’ witnessed in Nuseirat
Witnesses told me people were waiting for food when the Israeli attack was carried out targeting a UN-run evacuation centre in the Nuseirat refugee camp without any warning.
I have just returned from the site. I saw a tremendous size of destruction. Piles of rubble are scattered around the area. I saw a missile that was stuck in the ground.
This is not the only attack that was carried out by the Israeli forces on evacuation shelters. In the Nuseirat refugee camp alone, 13 of them were targeted since July.
More on rescue efforts in Nuseirat
I saw a large number of emergency workers in Nuseirat, trying to find survivors after the Israeli attack on an evacuation centre.
They have been digging the rubble with their bare hands due to the lack of basic equipment.
The emergency workers retrieved 14 bodies and transferred an unidentified number of injured people to nearby hospitals.
The attack caused a great deal of destruction and the hope for finding survivors is dwindling.
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