GAZA CITY, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES – The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said at least 15 people were killed on Saturday when a UN school sheltering thousands of displaced Palestinians was hit by an Israeli strike.
“The massacre at the Al-Fakhura school committed by the occupation (Israel) this morning left 15 martyrs and 70 wounded,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told a press conference.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said its school is being used as a “shelter for displaced families”.
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“At least one strike hit the school yard where there were tents for displaced families. Another strike hit inside the school where women were baking bread,” UNRWA said in a statement.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military about hitting the school in Jabalia refugee camp, and AFP was unable to independently confirm the toll.
On Thursday, UNRWA said four of its schools in the Gaza Strip housing people displaced by the war had been damaged by bombings.
An estimated 1.4 million people have been displaced in four weeks of war, out of the territory’s 2.4 million residents, with many crammed into schools or hospitals.
The health ministry said Saturday at least 9,488 people have been killed across Gaza, the majority civilians, since Israel started pounding the territory on October 7.
The strikes came in retaliation for attacks the same day on Israel by Hamas members in which some 1,400 people were killed, also mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials, who have vowed to destroy Hamas.