Israeli Strike on Gaza School Leaves Over 30 Dead, Including Women and Children

An early morning Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians resulted in the deaths of more than 30 individuals, including 23 women and children, according to local health officials in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory.

Relatives mourn over the bodies of people killed in an Israeli airstrike on a U.N.-run school housing displaced Palestinians in Nuseirat, at a hospital in nearby Deir el-Balah, June 6, 2024.EYAD BABA/AFP/GETTY

The hospital treating victims reported receiving the bodies of at least 37 people, labeled as “martyrs” from the strike, as per Agence France-Presse. A U.N. official, however, provided Reuters with an estimated death toll between 35 and 45, although these numbers remain unconfirmed.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner stated that the IDF had been monitoring the school, noting that 20-30 Hamas and affiliated militants were operating within the premises to plan and launch terror attacks.

“We have been following the activity there in the last few days and postponed the strike twice to allow a precise attack and avoid hurting innocents,” Lerner explained. He mentioned being unaware of civilian casualties and urged caution regarding the figures provided by Gaza officials.

The IDF did not immediately provide evidence of militant presence in the school but released a photo indicating the classrooms on the second and third floors where they claimed the militants were located.

A Palestinian man inspects the site of an Israeli strike on a UNRWA school sheltering displaced people in the central Gaza Strip amid the Israel-Hamas conflict in this screengrab taken from a video June 6, 2024.REUTERS TV / REUTERS

The strike occurred amid renewed cease-fire and hostage release negotiations mediated by the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt. However, Hamas’ top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, appeared to reject the latest proposal for such an agreement.

Haniyeh accused President Biden, who announced the draft cease-fire proposal on May 31 as an Israeli initiative, of causing confusion and Israel of issuing “contradictory statements” about its support for the deal.

“After examining the content of the Israeli paper, it became clear that it does not lay the correct foundations for the required agreement,” Haniyeh said, emphasizing that it guarantees only a temporary, not permanent, cease-fire.

The White House, along with Israel and numerous Western nations, has publicly pressured Hamas to accept the deal announced by President Biden a week ago.

Israel has insisted it will not end the war without destroying Hamas and has rejected calls for a permanent cease-fire until this objective is achieved. Conversely, Hamas demands a lasting cease-fire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

The strike on the school came as the IDF announced a new ground and air assault in several refugee camps in central Gaza, targeting Hamas militants they claim have regrouped there.

Witnesses and hospital officials reported that the predawn strike hit the al-Sardi School, run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). The school was crowded with Palestinians who had fled Israeli offensives and bombardments in northern Gaza.

Ayman Rashed, a displaced man sheltering at the school, described the harrowing aftermath: “The missiles hit classrooms where families were sheltering. It was dark, with no electricity, and we struggled to get out the victims.”

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah received at least 33 dead from the strike, including 14 children and nine women, as confirmed by hospital records and an Associated Press reporter. Another overnight strike on a house killed six more people.

Mohammed al-Kareem, a displaced Palestinian near the hospital, described chaotic scenes as vehicles arrived one after another, bringing wounded people into the emergency department. Videos circulating online showed several wounded being treated on the hospital floor.

Al-Kareem witnessed bodies wrapped in blankets or plastic bags laid out in the hospital courtyard. He described people frantically searching for loved ones among the dead, with one woman repeatedly asking medical workers to identify her son.

UNRWA schools across Gaza have served as shelters since the war began, displacing most of the territory’s 2.3 million residents. The tragic event at the al-Sardi School underscores the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.