Most of the Dead Are Children, Women, and Elderly
Israel bombed a UN-operated school in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, where thousands of refugees had taken shelter, killing at least 16 people and injuring more than 50, the Gaza Strip Health Ministry reported.
According to AFP and Reuters on the 6th (local time), the Gaza Strip Health Ministry, led by the local armed faction Hamas, explained that the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) school in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, was attacked, causing such casualties.
The Gaza Strip government press office claimed that about 7,000 people had taken refuge in the school at the time, and the majority of the deceased were children, women, and the elderly. Local authorities stated that many of the injured are in critical condition, so the death toll may rise.
Sama Abu Amshara, a woman who was at the school when the missile fell, told AFP that some children died while reading the Quran in the classroom. She said, "Shrapnel flew toward me inside the classroom, and the children were injured," adding, "This is the fourth time Israel has targeted the school without warning."
The Israeli military said in a statement that they attacked several terrorists operating in structures in the UNRWA school area and took measures in advance to minimize civilian casualties.
As UN schools and other facilities crowded with civilians are repeatedly attacked, criticism of Israel's military operations is expected to intensify. A UNRWA spokesperson stated that since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7 last year, more than half of the UNRWA facilities in the Gaza Strip have been attacked, many of which served as shelters.
On the same day, local medical staff reported that an airstrike hit a house in the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, one of the eight major refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 10 people and injuring many others.
The Gaza Strip Health Ministry reported that in the past 24 hours, Israeli military attacks killed at least 29 Palestinians and injured 100. They also reported that more than 38,000 Palestinians have died since the war in the Gaza Strip began.
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