Children among dozens killed in strike on Gaza school that Israeli military says was being used by Hamas
The Israeli military launched an airstrike on a school operated by the United Nations agency for refugees in the central Gaza Strip overnight, saying it was targeting Hamas. Local health officials said dozens of displaced civilians, including children, were killed in the attack.
Video captured by NBC News’ crew on the ground showed the exterior of the school heavily damaged, with rooms filled with rubble and makeshift beds. In one area, what appeared to be fragments of shrapnel could be seen.
The Israel Defense Forces said early Thursday morning it had launched a “precise strike” targeting a Hamas compound it said was embedded inside the UNRWA school in the area of the Nuseirat refugee camp. It said militants who took part in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks were killed in the strike.
IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said he was not aware of any civilian casualties in connection with the strike, adding that it had been postponed twice in order to separate and distinguish militants from civilians.
Local health officials said at least 30 people had been killed, including 23 women and children, and dozens injured, according to The Associated Press.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital suggested the death toll could be even higher, saying it had received as many as 40 bodies.
UNRWA Communications Director Juliette Touma told NBC News that the number of those reported killed in the Israeli offensive on the Nuseirat school was between 35 and 45, but added that the organization could not confirm the exact numbers at this stage.
She said UNRWA was not in a position to confirm the Israeli military’s claim the school was being used by Hamas militants.
Lerner said the IDF had understood there to be around 20 to 30 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants using the school to plan and execute attacks. He said that as soon as the IDF has a list of their identities, it would release it to the public.
Witnesses and hospital officials said the strike hit Al-Sardi School, run by UNRWA, the AP reported. They said the school was filled with Palestinians who had fled the Israeli offensive and bombardment in northern Gaza.
Ayman Rashed, who said he had been at the school after being displaced from Gaza City, told the AP that missiles hit classrooms on the second and third floor of the facility where families were sheltering. He said he helped carry out five of those killed, including an old man and two children.
“It was dark, with no electricity, and we struggled to get out the victims,” he said.
