October 2024 Abu Hussein school attack

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October 2024 Abu Hussein school attack
Part of the second battle of Jabalia and attacks on schools during the Israel–Hamas war
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Abu Hussein school
Location Jabalia refugee camp, Gaza Strip
Date17 October 2024
Target UNRWA-run Abu Hussein school
Attack type
Airstrike
Deaths28+ Palestinians
Injured160+ Palestinians
PerpetratorFlag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg  Israel Defense Forces

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. [1]

Contents

Background

On 5 October 2024, the IDF launched a new ground offensive in Jabalia, aiming to eliminate what it said were Hamas militants regrouping there. Israel imposed a siege over the area and obstructed the entry of aid to Jabalia, which the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations described as "a genocide within genocide". [2] [3]

Airstrike

Israel struck the primary school on 17 October 2024, killing at least 28 and wounding more than 160, claiming that the strike targeted an "operational meeting point" for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants, without providing substantial evidence. Israel named 18 men who it accused of conducting rocket attacks and attacking IDF soldiers. [4] The Israeli military claimed to have worked to mitigate civilian harm in the airstrike, including by using aerial surveillance and a precise munition.

Hamas strongly denied the claim that it had used the UNRWA school for fighting purposes, and called it "nothing but lies" and a "systematic policy of the enemy to justify its crime." [1] [5] The director of Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia reported that the hospital was small and could not receive all of the Palestinians injured by the strike, adding that most of those presented were women and children. [5] He also stated that there was no water to extinguish the fire, and that the attack constitutes a massacre. [6] Several tents caught fire, causing smoke to rise. [1] A health ministry official stated, "Civilians and children are being killed, burned under fire". [7] At least 5 children were killed in the strike. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maghazi refugee camp</span> Palestinian refugee camp in the Deir al-Balah Governorate in the central Gaza Strip

Maghazi is a Palestinian refugee camp located in the Deir al-Balah Governorate in the central Gaza Strip. It was established in 1949. The camp is built on 559 dunums (0.6 km2). In July 2023, the UNRWA reported its population to be 33,000. During the first months of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, its population tripled and faced repeated airstrikes by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

Events in 2023 in the Palestinian territories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israel–Hamas war</span> Ongoing armed conflict in the Middle East

An armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups has been taking place in the Gaza Strip and Israel since 7 October 2023. It is the fifth war of the Gaza–Israel conflict since 2008, and the most significant military engagement in the region since the Yom Kippur War in 1973. It is the deadliest war for Palestinians in the history of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

From 9 October 2023, as part of the Israel–Hamas war, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted airstrikes in Jabalia refugee camp, claiming it was a stronghold for Hamas and other militant groups.

<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.

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 of the year 2024 in Israel.

Events in 2024 in the Palestinian territories.

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 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 Jabalia</span>

The siege of Jabalia, also known as the Jabalia offensive, is an ongoing engagement of the Israel–Hamas war in Jabalia, Gaza Strip, between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian forces. It began on 5 October 2024 and marks the reentry of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) into the city for the second time since Israel withdrew from Jabalia in May 2024.

On 19 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces conducted attacks on Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, killing at least 87 Palestinians and injuring more than 100, with many more missing believed to be trapped under the rubble. Israeli airstrikes and artillery shells struck several buildings in densely packed residential blocks filled with local residents and evacuees, primarily in the western regions of the city.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Israeli strike on school sheltering displaced families in Jabalia kills 28". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  2. "Palestine's UN envoy says 'genocide within genocide' going on in north Gaza". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  3. "Palestinian officials say an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in northern Gaza killed 15". The Economic Times. 2024-10-17. ISSN   0013-0389 . Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  4. Fabian, Emanuel (23 October 2024). "IDF says at least 18 terror operatives killed in Oct. 17 strike on ex Gaza school".{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. 1 2 "Israeli air strike on north Gaza school kills 22, medics say". BBC. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  6. "Palestinian officials describe 'massacre' after Israeli strike on Gaza shelter kills dozens". CBC. 17 October 2024.
  7. Al-Mughrabi, Nidal. "At least 28 dead in Gaza strike, which Israel says targeted gunmen". Reuters. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  8. "Hamas denies Israeli claims it used Jabalia school for fighting". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2024-10-17.