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Survivors have told of the horror of an Israeli air attack on a Gaza city school in which more than 100 people were killed and dozens more injured on Saturday.
Video from Al Tabaeen school, housing at least 2,400 Palestinians, showed women crying over the shrouds of children as people attempted to calm them with verses from the Quran. Another recording showed the moment the Israeli munitions struck the school in the early hours of the morning, engulfing it in flames as screams were heard.
Yosef Al Kafarna rushed to the school from the displacement centre where he lives in Jabalia, north of Gaza city, to check on his son Ihab, who was living in the school with his family after their home in Beit Hanoun was destroyed.
“As soon as I heard about the school being targeted, I rushed there. I found out that my son had been martyred, along with his wife and their two children,” Mr Al Kafarna told The National.
“My son was a kind and gentle man, always looking for ways to provide a good life for his children.”
Hasan Al Shoubaki, 41, said he was among the first to arrive after the attack, which came during the morning prayer, or fajr.
"I live near the school and usually pray in its mosque, but by God’s will, I was not present at that prayer," he told The National.
“The scene was incredibly difficult. Bodies and limbs were scattered everywhere, with blood on the ground and the walls," Mr Al Shoubaki said.
“What I saw was beyond imagination," he said. "Families were searching for the remains of their loved ones."
Mr Shoubaki lost two of his sons and several relatives during the war, which has claimed more than 39,700 lives in Gaza over 10 months.
"My heart can no longer bear the pain of these losses. Our cries are no longer heard by anyone. No one cares about us or the suffering we endure."
Sarah Esleem said she was looking for her father and brother, who had attended the fajr prayer in the mosque. She had been searching for them along with her mother and sisters, but without success.
“My father and brother are our pillars in life. We hope they are still alive and that we don’t lose them because our lives without them won’t be easy at all,” she told The National.
“I just want to understand why innocent civilians praying are being targeted in such a brutal way. Israel keeps claiming it has military targets, but that’s a lie, as everyone being killed is a civilian, mostly children and women,” she said.
