Local medics and Hamas’ Civil Defence agency report that at least 22 people were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli airstrike on a UN-run shelter for displaced families located in northern Gaza.
The director of the local hospital reported that children and women were among those who died in the attack on Abu Hussein Boys Primary School in the Jabalia Refugee Camp.
Video footage shows people attempting to put out the fire in a tent by bringing buckets of water and carrying several casualties.
The Israeli military claimed that it had “conducted an exact strike on a operational meeting point for Hamas terrorists and Islamic Jihad”.
The report also named 12 men, who it said were among the “dozens” members of Palestinian armed groups that were present in the compound during the strike.
The military accused them that they were involved in rocket attacks against Israel and that they had attacked Israeli troops in Gaza recently.
Hamas dismissed the claim that the school had been used for military purposes, calling it “lies” and part a “systematic enemy policy to justify their crime”.
Dr Hussam Ab Safiya of the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia told the BBC via a voice message that 25 people had been killed and 75 others injured during the strike. Children and women were also among the victims who were brought to the hospital.
“Our hospital is too small to accommodate all of these injured people.” “Most of the people who came to us were children or women,” he said.
Israeli troops have been waging a fierce ground battle in Jabalia, and the refugee camp that surrounds it, since Israel launched an offensive on the ground 12 days ago. The Israeli military claimed to be targeting Hamas fighters who were regrouped there.
UN officials claim that more than 50,000 people fled their homes as a result of the hostilities, and Israeli evacuation orders. But tens and thousands are still stuck in the area in increasingly desperate circumstances with food and water running out.
According to the UN, Kamal Adwan Hospital, along with nearby Indonesian and al-Awda hospital, is facing a dire shortage of fuel and other materials.
“We work under fear, with the sound of explosions all around us. “We have a huge challenge in our hospital,” said Dr Abu Safiya.
“We lack medicine, medical supplies, and medical equipment.” We don’t even have enough staff for our ER.
The UN reported that no humanitarian aid entered northern Gaza through Israel’s crossings in the first two weeks this month.
Aid lorries started to arrive this week, after the Biden administration sent a sternly-worded letter warning Israel that it could lose US military assistance if it didn’t increase aid into Gaza in 30 days.
Israel claimed that it was not blocking the entry of humanitarian assistance and accused Hamas of hijacking and stealing the aid deliveries, something the group denies.
Israel launched a campaign against Hamas as a response to the group’s unprecedented attack in southern Israel on 7th October 2023. In that attack, approximately 1,200 people died and 251 were taken hostage.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, more than 42,430 Palestinians have died in Gaza since that time.
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