Four children among 16 killed in Israeli air raid on Nuseirat school
The Shuhadaa (Martyrs) of Nuseirat, a public school, was hosting hundreds of internally displaced families when it was hit. Those injured in the attack, which took place at rush hour at about noon, are being taken to nearby hospitals, al-Awda and Al-Aqsa.
More than one missile was used in the area, which was close to the local market.
Number of school attack casualties rises to 17
Schools in Nuseirat are packed and overwhelmed with thousands of displaced Palestinians from other areas.
The latest attack on a school in Nuseirat has now killed at least 17 Palestinians, including seven-year-old Hamad, eight-year-old Mahmoud, nine-year-old Moatassem, five-year-old Malak and an 11-month-old baby called Mamdouh along with at least two women.
This is not the first time Israeli forces have hit a school that houses thousands of displaced families. Makeshift camps and shelters have also been hit repeatedly.
Some of the people injured in this attack are in critical condition. We know there is a shortage of medical supplies and medicine to treat them, and that’s why we expect the number of casualties to rise.
Israeli military claims school was ‘command and control centre’
As with previous strikes on Gaza schools, the Israeli military is claiming that it was targeting Palestinian fighters in the Shuhadaa school attack in Nuseirat that killed 17 people, including an 11-month-old baby. Israel has provided no evidence for its claim.
“The command and control complex was used by Hamas terrorists to plan and carry out terrorist operations against the [Israeli military] forces and the State of Israel,” the army said in a statement, adding that it hit the school based on precise intelligence.
The Israeli military also claimed that it took “many steps” to ensure a limited chance of harm to civilians.
Nuseirat school 196th to be hit by Israeli military since start of war
The Government Media Office in Gaza has announced that the direct Israeli air strikes on the Shuhadaa al-Nuseirat school in the central part of the enclave brings the number of displacement centres hit since the start of the war to 196.
At least nine children are among the 17 people confirmed killed so far, the office said in a statement, adding that 52 wounded Palestinians have arrived at hospitals in the area.
“The occupation army knew that the school housed thousands of displaced persons and that the majority of them are children and women who were displaced from their bombed homes and residential neighbourhoods.”
