By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
SvennoJ on 13 July 2024
Edit Thread

Life inside the UN school shelters targeted for attack by Israel

An estimated 1.9 million people are displaced in Gaza due to Israel’s unrelenting war on the Palestinian territory.

Palestinian families who fled their homes due to Israeli attacks have sought refuge where they can, many in school converted to shelters for the displaced across the Gaza Strip.

Last week, Israel carried out air strikes against four shelters in four days, killing dozens of Palestinians and leaving many injured. Here’s a look inside one school shelter in Dier el-Balah in central Gaza:


Tent camps on the grounds of the UNRWA-run school shelter in Deir el-Balah on Thursday


Washed clothes hang from balconies at a school operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza’s Deir el-Balah on July 11


Classroom converted to sleeping dormitories at the school shelter


Israeli forces pull back to Gaza coastal road after attack on Tal al-Hawa area

Israeli forces have reportedly redeployed along the coastal road in northern Gaza and south of Gaza City after withdrawing from the battered city’s Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood at dawn on Friday, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) report.

Palestinian fighters continued to blast Israeli forces with rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices west of Tal al-Hawa on Friday, according to the ISW/CTP report, as Israel’s ground offensive against Gaza City enters a second week amid reports of a “massacre” of civilians in the neighbourhood.

South of Gaza City, Israeli troops deployed on the Netzarim Corridor came under fire from mortars and rockets, while Palestinian fighters continued to battle in Rafah city in the south where they fired mortar shells and rockets at Israeli troops.

Rockets and mortars were also fired towards military targets in Israel on Friday, in at least three attacks launched from Gaza, the US-based defence think tanks said.

Israeli military announces operations across the Gaza Strip

The Israeli military has announced that it has carried out several operations across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, including:

  • The Israeli military’s 162nd Division continues to fight in the Rafah area in southern Gaza, where it has destroyed several tunnel openings and eliminated a “number of terrorists”.
  • The 99th Division continues to fight in Gaza City in northern Gaza, where it has killed a “number of terrorists” in face-to-face clashes.
  • The Nahal Brigade detected a “terrorist cell” consisting of three Palestinian fighters who fired rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) shells at Israeli forces. Israeli fighter jets bombed and killed them near a tunnel opening.
  • Israeli fighter jets bombed a parachute warehouse used by Hamas in the Rafah area.


Palestinians, some using donkey carts, make their way over rubble and past destroyed buildings after the Israeli military withdrew following a two-week offensive in the Shujayea neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, on July 11