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Israel's airstrike on Gaza school kills 22 displaced people
An Israeli airstrike on a school campus in central Gaza killed at least 22 people, including seven children. Military operations are intensifying and the humanitarian crisis is worsening.
Israel's airstrike on Gaza school kills 22 displaced people
On Tuesday, at least 22 people, including seven children, were killed in an Israeli attack on a school complex sheltering thousands of displaced people in Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip, hospital officials said. Dozens more were injured in the attack.
Attack on the school complex
At the site of the attack, videos from the scene showed a large crater as people searched through the rubble of the school for survivors. Remains of tents and personal belongings lay scattered on the ground. Safaa Al Khaldi, who took shelter in the school complex, said her son was injured in the attack. She said: "Our children are starving, our children cannot find a piece of bread," referring to Israel's complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, now in its third month. “What did we do wrong?”
Reactions to the violence
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it "attacked terrorists operating inside a Hamas command center" but did not provide further information about the attack. At the school complex, a woman shouted against Hamas, something that was almost unimaginable in Gaza given the ruling militants. “Hamas should get out of the school, they are hiding among the people,” she shouted. “Bring them out, what did the children do that are being torn apart?”
The number of victims is increasing
Videos obtained by CNN showed dead and injured people near the school complex, while ambulances stood by to take the wounded to hospitals. Another injured child, bleeding and bandaged, was carried out of an ambulance on a stretcher. The attack on the refugee camp came less than 24 hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Gaza's population would be relocated south after his security team had approved an expanded military operation.
Consequences of the blockade
“There will be a population movement to protect them,” Netanyahu said of the “intensified operation,” described by a far-right minister as a plan to “take over” the besieged area. Since the Israeli government approved an expanded military operation in Gaza on Sunday, at least 48 Palestinians have been killed and 142 others injured, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. More than 2,500 Palestinians have been killed since March 18, when Israel resumed its bombardment of Gaza.
Healthcare crisis
On Monday, the Palestinian Red Cross Society reported that 13 of 29 clinics in the Gaza Strip had been closed. The remaining facilities have “limited capacity,” it said. In addition, according to the UN Health Agency, 21 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are only partially functional.
The Blockade of Israel, which prevents access to food and medicine, is bringing Gaza's already severely battered health system to the brink of collapse, aid organizations warn. Near the site of the latest Israeli attack, a woman hugged her crying daughter and said that all of her daughter's friends had been killed.
UN warns of humanitarian catastrophe
“My friend Leen is gone, my friend Yousra is gone, my friend Miral is gone,” the daughter said through tears. On Tuesday, the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) warned of a “deepening catastrophe” in Gaza amid the blockade. “OCHA emphasizes that under international humanitarian law, civilians must be protected and their basic needs – including food, shelter, water and health care – must be met regardless of where they are in Gaza and whether they move or remain,” OCHA’s statement said.