A tragic strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza resulted in the deaths of at least four people, marking the second Israeli attack on a school in two days. The Israeli military justified the strike by claiming the school complex was being used as a militant hideout and housed a Hamas weapons manufacturing facility.
The Gaza government’s deputy labour minister, Ihab Al-Ghussein, was among those killed in the strike on the Holy Family school. The previous day, a UN-run school in Nuseirat refugee camp was also hit, resulting in 16 casualties and condemnation from the United Nations.
Despite Israeli claims, Hamas has denied using civilian infrastructure for military purposes. The ongoing conflict has forced the majority of Gaza’s population to seek shelter in UN-run schools, which have become frequent targets of attacks.
UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, expressed outrage at the repeated attacks on its premises, with more than half of its facilities in Gaza being hit since the war began in October. The agency’s spokesperson emphasized that schools had been turned into shelters for displaced civilians due to the conflict.