At least 24 killed in strike at UN-run Gaza school

At least 24 people were killed in a strike this weekend at a United Nations school used as a shelter by thousands of displaced people in northern Gaza, a UN official said on Sunday.

Palestinian officials had said on Saturday that many people were killed and injured in an Israeli attack on the Al-Fakhura school, used as a shelter by adults and children, in the Jabaliya area of ​​northern Gaza.

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees, announced a death toll on Sunday and said nearly 7,000 displaced people were sheltering in the school when the strike struck. He did not give a number for the injured or suggest who was responsible.

The Israeli military said it had received reports of an incident in the Jabaliya area on Saturday and was investigating, adding that it was “committed to international law, including taking feasible steps to limit harm to civilians.” to a minimum.”

Mr. Lazzarini said that another school, housing about 4,000 displaced people at the time, in Gaza City, was “directly hit” on Friday and that ambulances “could not reach the school to provide assistance.” His agency, UNRWA, said it believed dozens of people had been killed or injured but did not have exact figures.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians have sought shelter at UN facilities across Gaza. “I reaffirm that our buildings are inviolable,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

According to the UNRWA statement, at least 176 displaced persons sheltering at UNRWA schools have been killed and nearly 800 injured since the Israeli bombing of Gaza began on October 7. Classes have been suspended and schools have been converted into shelters in Gaza.

The agency said it was still verifying death and injury figures but had confirmed that at least 17 of its facilities had been directly affected.

The “large number of UNRWA facilities affected and the number of civilians killed cannot simply be ‘collateral damage’,” Mr Lazzarini said in the statement. The agency’s facilities were clearly marked as UN buildings and their coordinates were regularly shared with both sides of the conflict, he said, adding: “This is further proof that no one, and nowhere, is safe in Gaza.”

Al-Fakhura School was also hit by a strike on November 4, killing at least 12 people and injuring 54 others, UNRWA said.

According to UNRWA, nearly 900,000 displaced people are sheltering in the agency’s facilities in the Gaza Strip. They include many people who fled northern Gaza following Israeli orders to evacuate the area amid an escalation of ground fighting there.

Families seeking shelter at UNRWA schools in the south described overcrowded facilities where food and water were scarce.

Ihab Abedrabo said he had been sheltering with his mother, wife and six children at a UN agency school in the southern city of Khan Younis since a strike damaged their home.

His family, like thousands of others, had fled to the school hoping they would be safe. But when Mr. Abedrabo was attacked nearby earlier this week, sending shrapnel into the school, he once again feared for the lives of his relatives.

“No place is safe,” he said. “I can’t think of a safer place to go, though.”

Abu Bakr Bashir contributed reporting from London.