The Civil Defense in Gaza announced that at least 18 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced individuals. The Israeli military stated it targeted militants present there. According to Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal, “For the fifth time, the Israeli occupation forces bombed the Ja’ouni School run by UNRWA, killing 18 citizens, including two UN agency employees, children, and women, with more than 18 others injured, some critically.”
UNRWA announced that six of its staff members were killed in the strike, marking “the highest casualty toll the UN agency has suffered in a single incident.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the killing of the six workers.
Guterres stated on the platform “X” (formerly Twitter), “What is happening in Gaza is absolutely unacceptable. An Israeli airstrike once again targeted a school sheltering 12,000 people today. Among the dead are six of our colleagues from UNRWA. These severe violations of international humanitarian law must stop now.”
Meanwhile, Catherine Russell, the Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), offered condolences to the families of the six UNRWA victims, noting reports that “at least two children were killed in the raid. This horror must stop. Gaza needs a ceasefire.”
The Israeli military claimed that its warplanes “carried out a precise strike on terrorists operating inside a Hamas command and control center” at the Ja’ouni School in the center of the Gaza Strip.
