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Witnesses have described carnage after an Israeli air strike killed dozens of displaced people sheltering in a Khan Younis school on Tuesday, hitting the facility as children played football outside.
The official Wafa news agency said that the Israeli army “targeted the entrance of Al Awdah School sheltering displaced persons” on Tuesday night, killing at least 29 and injuring many others.
It is the fourth strike of its kind on a school in Gaza in less than a week.
Ismael Abu Anza was playing football with other displaced teenagers inside the school's playground when an Israeli rocket struck people at the school gate.
“Suddenly we started to run and didn't know what to do; it was horrific,” he told The National.
“Most of the martyrs were torn apart. We tried to help evacuate people, but what we experienced can't be described.”
Gaza's government media office condemned the strike as a “horrific massacre” on Tuesday night, adding that 60 people had been killed in a series of large-scale attacks on refugee camps that day.
Atef Abu Dakka, from eastern Khan Younis, was also taking shelter in the school with his family and is in shock from what he witnessed.
“Only normal people were there. No fighters were there. All of them were children, women and elderly people. They were all civilians,” he told The National, describing rockets striking people as they stood by the school gate.
“Where should I go now? No place is safe, they are targeting everything. We are escaping death to another death.”
Israeli forces said they were investigating reports of the strike, but added that their target was struck with a “precision munition” and was adjacent to the school.
“The incident is under review,” said the army.
Tuesday's attack followed another strike on the Al Jaouni school in Nuseirat in the centre of the enclave on Monday, which killed at least 16 people. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said 2,000 people were sheltering there at the time.
A Tuesday strike on the Holy Family school in Gaza city killed four, according to Gaza's civil defence agency. The Latin Patriarchate, owners of the school, said hundreds of people had packed the grounds at the time.
Another UNRWA-run school in Nuseirat was hit on Monday. A local hospital said several people were taken in for treatment.
Israel said it had targeted “several terrorists” using the school for cover. But Hamas has denied Israeli claims that it uses schools, hospitals and other civilian facilities for military aims.
According to UNRWA, more than 500 people have been killed in schools and other shelters it runs in Gaza since the war started on October 7 with the Hamas attack on Israel.
Displaced under fire
At least 38,000 people have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza since then.
However, the Lancet medical journal reported that it is “not implausible” for the Gaza death toll to have reached 186,000 or more since the Israeli bombardment began, considering direct and indirect causes.
The report, titled Counting the Dead in Gaza: Difficult but Essential, said that using the 2022 Gaza Strip population estimate of 2,375,259, the death toll would be equivalent to 7.9 per cent.
The estimate published on Friday includes direct deaths from the conflict as well as indirect deaths from causes such as reproductive, communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Nine months since the war began, Gazans say Israel's intensified bombing campaigns and new displacement orders are reminding them of the initial days of fighting.
Israeli forces launched a new military operation on the northern Gaza city this week and demanded that more than 75 per cent of its residents flee to the south, forcing a renewed wave of displacement, reminiscent of when fighting began.
The UN humanitarian office reports that thousands of Palestinians in Gaza city have been fleeing in many directions, not knowing which way is safe from Israel's expanding military offensive.
“Many have been displaced under fire and bombardment, with very few being able to take their possessions,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Tuesday, citing reports by the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
“We were sitting at the entrance of the school … suddenly and without warning, rockets were fired,” a witness, Mohammed Sukkar, told AFP about Tuesday's strike.
OCHA described this latest displacement of people following recent Israeli evacuation orders as “dangerously chaotic,” with people fleeing having to go into or through neighbourhoods where fighting is taking place – or to areas where separate Israeli evacuation orders were later issued, Mr Dujarric said.
“Civilians in Gaza must be protected and have their basic needs met, whether they move or stay,” the UN spokesman said.
“Those who leave must have enough time to do so, as well as a safe route and a safe place to go.”
Mr Dujarric said OCHA warned that hostilities in these areas of Gaza city are preventing aid organisations from accessing warehouses, so they can’t restock, resupply or assess the latest needs.
Gaza ceasefire negotiations resumed this week as mediation efforts to pause the war in the Palestinian enclave gain momentum. Hamas and Israel have started to show some flexibility after months of deadlock.
