Al-Awda school attack

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Al-Awda school attack
Part of the Israel–Hamas war and attacks on schools during the Israeli invasion of Gaza
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Al-Awda School
Location within the Gaza Strip
Location Abasan al-Kabira, Khan Yunis Governorate, Gaza Strip
Coordinates 31°20′2″N34°20′18″E / 31.33389°N 34.33833°E / 31.33389; 34.33833
Date9 July 2024 (2024-07-09)
Attack type
 Airstrike
Deaths31+ Palestinians [1]
Injured53+ Palestinians [2]
PerpetratorFlag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg  Israel Defense Forces

On 9 July 2024, the Israeli Defense Forces bombed Al-Awda school in Abasan al-Kabira near the city of Khan Yunis, in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. The UNRWA-ran that had been converted into a displacement shelter, hosting refugees from the Israeli invasion. At least 31 Palestinians were killed in the attack while over 53 were injured; most of the casualties were women and children. [3] Many of the victims were refugees from Rafah following Israel's Rafah offensive. The attack was the fourth attack on a Palestinian school conducted by the Israel Defense Forces over the prior four days. [2]

Contents

Background

On 6 July, UNRWA-ran al-Jawni school sheltering 2,000 refugees at the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza was targeted by an IDF raid which killed sixteen Palestinians. [4] On 7 July, the IDF targeted the Latin Patriarchate-owned Holy Family school located in Gaza City housing hundreds of refugees, killing four. On 8 July, IDF force struck a different Nuseirat UNRWA-run school in, causing several injuries requiring treatment in a local hospital. [2] Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, stated two-thirds of all UNRWA schools in Gaza had been hit since October 2023. [5]

Airstrike

Al Jazeera video of the Al-Awda School massacre
External video
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Video of the air strike and its aftermath taken by a football spectator who was filming the game. Contains graphic images of severe injury. [1]
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg NBC News video on YouTube incorporating parts of the Al Jazeera footage and featuring comments from survivors

During the evening of 9 July 2024, Israeli Defense Forces conducted an airstrike that targeted a gate at the entrance of al-Awda School in Abasan al-Kabira, Khan Yunis Governorate. [2] A US-made GBU-39 precision-guided glide bomb, manufactured by Boeing, was used in the attack. [6] Several dozen were outside at the time of the attack, spectating a soccer game being played in a courtyard. [7] According to a witness, a warplane flew overhead and fired a missile at young men sitting at an internet cafe, after which "it was screams and body parts everywhere". [8] At least 19 deceased Palestinians from the airstrike were brought to nearby Nasser Hospital, in addition to 53 injured Palestinians. [2] Health officials stated the majority of casualties were women and children. [9] Weapons experts identified fragments from the strike as 250-pound GBU-39 bombs. [10] Workers at the hospital expected the number of dead to increase. [11] The death toll had risen to 31 by the next day. [1]

A 14-year-old survivor of the attack stated, "I was walking, when suddenly I found myself flying... I saw all the wounded. Just body parts." [12] Another child survivor stated he was the only person in his family who survived the strike. [13]

Reactions

Hamas condemned the attack and said in a statement: "The bombing of the school is an Israeli insistence on the war of extermination, and confirmation of the occupation's continuation of the crimes of murder, without regard to the consequences of its crimes or the laws and treaties that were established to protect civilians in wars." It further called upon "the Arab peoples and those it called the peoples of the free world to move in support of the Palestinian people, and it also called on the people of the West Bank to activate all tools of support to engage with Israel". Hamas also called for "rage marches in all cities of the world to condemn the massacres and to demand an end to the ongoing war in the besieged Gaza strip". [14]

The Israeli Ministry of Defense said that the attack used "precision weapons" to target an area near the school where a Hamas fighter who took part in the October 7 attacks on Israel was located. [15] The ministry stated that it was investigating reports that Palestinian civilians were harmed in the attack. [16]

European Union Chief of Foreign Policy Josep Borrell strongly condemned the attack, lamenting the cost of the war to innocent civilians while calling for an immediate ceasefire agreement to free the reminding hostages and provide sufficient humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. [17] Borrell stated, "We condemn any violation of international law: those responsible must be held accountable." [18] Discussing the spate of Israeli airstrikes on schools in mid-July 2024, the French foreign ministry stated, "We call for these strikes to be fully investigated... It is unacceptable that schools, especially those housing civilians displaced by the fighting, should be targeted." [19] The German Federal Foreign Office stated, "People seeking shelter in schools getting killed is unacceptable. The repeated attacks on schools by the Israeli army must stop and an investigation must come quickly." [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuseirat refugee camp</span> Refugee camp in Deir al-Balah, State of Palestine

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Gaza City</span> Ongoing military engagement in Gaza City

The siege of Gaza City began on 2 November 2023, when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) surrounded Gaza City, amid the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, which was a counterattack to the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Gaza City is the most populated city in the Gaza Strip and the battle started on 30 October 2023, when Israel and Hamas clashed in Gaza City. According to Oxfam, there are about 500,000 Palestinians, along with 200 Israelis and other captives, were trapped in a "siege within a siege" in northern Gaza.

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Since the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war on 7 October 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted numerous airstrikes in densely populated Palestinian refugee camps in both the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Al-Maghazi refugee camp was struck several times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Refugee camp airstrikes in the Israel–Hamas war</span> Airstrikes in the Gaza Strip and West Bank

In the Israel–Hamas war, as part of the bombing and invasion of Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted numerous airstrikes in densely populated Palestinian refugee camps in both the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attacks on schools during the Israeli invasion of Gaza</span> 2023 airstrikes on educational facilities in the Gaza Strip

Since the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war on 7 October 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted numerous airstrikes on more than 200 educational facilities, including universities, in the Gaza Strip. The IDF states such airstrikes are the result of the placement of military infrastructure and rocket launching from civilian areas, including schools. By late March 2024, the United Nations recorded more than 200 Israeli attacks on schools in Gaza, with at least 53 schools totally destroyed. By July 2024, all 19 Gaza universities had suffered severe damage with 80% of university buildings destroyed, 103 academics killed, and 90,000 students enrolled in higher education no longer able to pursue their studies. In June 2024, UNOCHA stated 76 percent of Gaza's schools required "full reconstruction or major rehabilitation", and in August 2024, UNICEF stated 564, or 85 percent, of all schools in Gaza had been hit by Israeli attacks.

Events in the year 2024 in Palestine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tel al-Sultan attack</span> 2024 Israeli airstrike on refugee camp in Gaza

On 26 May 2024, the Israeli Air Force bombed a displacement camp in Tel al-Sultan, Rafah. The attack, which set the camp on fire, killed between 45 and 50 Palestinians and injured more than 200. Sometimes referred to as the Rafah tent massacre or as the Tent Massacre, it was the deadliest incident of the Rafah offensive.

On 6 June 2024, the Israel Defense Forces fired two missiles at Al-Sardi, a UNRWA school in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Though the complex had not been used as a school since the outbreak of the war, UNRWA said approximately 6,000 people were using it for shelter.

On 13 July 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted targeted shelling operations on the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. The bombings hit a group of Palestinians gathered to pray near the ruins of a mosque in the camp, killing at least 22. The IDF claims that 20 of those killed were Hamas militants.

On 4 August 2024, the Israel Defense Forces bombed Hamama School in the Gaza neighborhood of Sheikh Radwan. The school had been sheltering people displaced by the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, including women and children. Per Gaza's Civil Defense, 17 people were killed and "many others" were wounded, while the school itself was "completely destroyed". The attack was one of a number of attacks on schools during the Israeli invasion of Gaza. The Israeli army stated that the school was being used by Hamas. Hamas criticized this claim as a false pretext "for targeting defenseless civilians". The Palestinian Resistance Movement called the attack a continuation of Israel's "brutal war of extermination" in Gaza.

On 10 August 2024, Israel struck the Al-Tabaeen school located in eastern Gaza City, which was hosting displaced Palestinians seeking shelter there during the Israel–Hamas war. At least 80 Palestinians were killed and 47 others were injured, with several victims being trapped in the school as the fire spread, according to Palestinian health authorities.

On 11 September 2024, the Israel Defense Forces bombed the UN-run Al-Jawni school in the Nuseirat refugee camp of central Gaza. The school had been sheltering people displaced by the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, including women and children. Per rescuers, 18 people were killed and more than 44 others were wounded. Among the killed were six United Nations workers, including the manager of the UNRWA shelter. This made it the highest death toll for UN staff in any single incident of the Israel–Hamas War and raising the number of UNRWA staff killed since the beginning of the war to 220. The attack was one of a number of attacks on schools during the Israeli invasion of Gaza and the fifth bombing of the Al-Jawni School since October 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of North Gaza</span> 2024 engagement in the Gaza Strip

The siege of North Gaza is an ongoing engagement of the Israel–Hamas war in the North Gaza Governorate, Gaza Strip, between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian forces. It began on 5 October 2024 when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reinvaded Jabalia and its refugee camp for the first time in months since earlier fighting.

On 17 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bombed the UNRWA-run Abu Hussein primary school, which had been turned into a shelter for Palestinians displaced by the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. The airstrike killed at least 28 Palestinians and wounded 160 others.

On 29 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted an airstrike on a five-story residential building in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, killing at least 55 to 93 Palestinians, including 25 children, and leaving 40 others missing.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tondo, Lorenzo (10 July 2024). "Israeli strike on Khan Younis shelter kills at least 31 amid surge in Gaza fighting". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Najjar, Farah. "Gaza City 'uninhabitable' as UN experts blast Israeli 'starvation campaign'". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 9 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  3. ↑ "Israel bombs Gaza school, killing 30 Palestinians as truce talks continue". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  4. ↑ "Dozens killed in Gaza as Israel strikes fourth school in four days". France24. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  5. ↑ "Deadly Israeli strike on school-turned-shelter in southern Gaza". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  6. ↑ Goodwin, Allegra; Schmitz, Avery; Mezzofiore, Gianluca (10 July 2024). "US-made munitions used in deadly Israeli strike on school complex near Khan Younis, CNN analysis finds". CNN. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  7. ↑ Video shows the moment a deadly strike hits Al-Awda school in Gaza. YouTube (News). NBC News. 10 July 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  8. ↑ Abdulrahim, Raja. "A deadly Israeli strike at a school turned shelter shatters a moment of cheer". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  9. ↑ Al-Mughrabi, Nidal. "More than two dozen Gazans killed in Israeli strike". Reuters. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  10. ↑ Abdulrahim, Raja; Fuller, Thomas. "Carnage at Gaza School Compound Adds to Mounting Death Toll at U.N. Buildings". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  11. 1 2 "Gaza: Israeli strike on camp next to school kills 25 - hospital". BBC. Archived from the original on 9 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  12. ↑ Da Silva, Chantal. "Dozens killed as '4 schools in the last 4 days' struck in Gaza". NBC News. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  13. ↑ "Israeli attack on school shelter kills dozens". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  14. ↑ "حماس تدعو لمسيرات غضب بعد مجزرة الاحتلال في مدرسة تؤوي نازحين". الجزيرة نت (in Arabic). Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  15. ↑ "Israeli strike kills dozens at school sheltering displaced Palestinians". YouTube. CBC News. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  16. ↑ Najjar, Farah. "Gaza City 'uninhabitable' as UN experts blast Israeli 'starvation campaign'". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 9 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  17. ↑ McCready, Alastair; Rowlands, Lyndal. "'Massacre': At least 29 killed as Israeli warplane hits another Gaza school". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  18. ↑ Stack, Liam; Patil, Anushka. "The Israeli military said it was 'looking into reports that civilians were harmed.'". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  19. ↑ "France Says Israeli Strikes On Gaza Schools 'Unacceptable'". Barron's. Agence France Presse. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
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