Israeli airstrikes have targeted a United Nations school in southern Gaza for a third time, killing at least 20 Palestinians. Witnesses claim that the Ahmad Bin Abdul Aziz School in Khan Younis, housing internally displaced families, was hit without warning.
Such an attack raises the increasing body count of Palestinians who were killed in Gaza due to the increasing conflict. There was massive destruction around the Nasser Medical Complex area where the school was attacked. Witnesses described bodies shredded due to the scale of the attack, with survivors frantically searching for loved ones amid the rubble.
More than 60 Palestinians have died in Gaza in the last 24 hours alone, with attacks reported in Beit Hanoon, Deir el-Balah, and the Nuseirat refugee camp. The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza since October 2023 now exceeds 45,000, according to health officials.
Did you know: Israeli airstrikes target Ahmad Bin Abdul Aziz School United Nations school in Gaza, it was not the first UN-based school in territory
The situation is getting worse as UNRWA shelters, which are sometimes the last hope for civilians, have been attacked time and again. “These facilities have become death traps,” said a Gaza-based journalist. In Beit Hanoon, another Israeli strike on a school pushed the death toll from 15 to 43, while in the Nuseirat camp, bombings killed five members of the Abu Hajar family, including a child. The camp also witnessed the tragic death of Khaled Nabhan, who had been helping rescue teams after his granddaughter was killed in earlier attacks.
Palestinian journalist Ahmed al-Louh and five civil defense workers were killed in a bombing at Nuseirat. Al-Louh’s death brings the number of journalists killed in Gaza to three in 24 hours, putting the total number of media personnel dead since the beginning of the war at 196.
The Palestinian death toll in Gaza increases day by day, and so is the call for international action to stop the massacre. The latest Palestinian official says the killings are “ongoing massacres” and urged governments around the world to take emergency measures. It will leave devastated families and communities in that besieged territory.
Also see: How many Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023?