At least 12 displaced Palestinians killed in Israeli strike on Gaza school

After Israeli forces bombed a school that serves displaced people in northern Gaza, at least 12 Palestinians were killed and several others were hurt.

The attack occurred at a school in Gaza City, according to the Civil Defense Agency in Gaza on Thursday. Since dawn, Israeli raids in Gaza have killed 27 Palestinians, including 19 in the north, where an Israeli military siege has been going on for more than a month.

The bombing of the Shati Elementary Boys School, which is affiliated with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), was reported to have injured at least 30 people. Israel officially cut ties with UNRWA, the primary humanitarian organization for Gaza residents, earlier this week.

According to Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, who was reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza on Thursday, Israeli forces have been pursuing densely populated homes and shelters in northern Gaza for weeks.

Because of the bombings in their homes, she said, “Palestinians are currently the only ones looking for refuge and staying there.”

“How would anyone on this planet cope, without any food, without any water, without any medicine, aid and also constant bombing and shelling? These Palestinians are stranded between the Israeli and Israeli shellings.

Israel’s genocide in Gaza that began in October last year has killed at least 43, 469 Palestinians and wounded 102, 561 others – most of them women and children.

At least 1, 139 people were killed when the Palestinian group Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli data.

Evacuation orders

In addition, the Israeli military ordered a forced evacuation of several areas of northern Gaza on Thursday, where it claimed Palestinian fighters had launched rockets.

The designated area is regarded as a risky combat zone, according to “we inform you.” For your safety, move south immediately”, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X along with a map of the area in Gaza City’s northwest.

Palestinians in the north have experienced repeated forcible evacuations, which indicates a sense of displacement. Additionally, the Israeli army has repeatedly attacked disputed “safe zones” with its designation.

Israeli tanks entered Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza as drones carried out evacuation orders, which were also posted on social media and residents’ phones via text messages.

After the Israeli forces forced the majority of the Palestinians out of Jabalia, a neighbor in northern Gaza, they are “bombing everywhere, killing people on the roads and inside their homes,” a resident claimed to Reuters news agency.

Since the siege on northern Gaza began last month, Palestinian officials claim that Israel has “ethically cleansed” Palestinians by preventing aid to Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoon, and Jabalia.

In order to fight Hamas fighters who it claims have regrouped there, the Israeli military claimed on Wednesday that it needed to leave Jabalia and begin evacuating Beit Lahiya.

Additionally, it refrained from saying whether aid would be delivered to that region of the enclave. According to the statement, 300 aid trucks from the United Arab Emirates had arrived at Ashdod and would be headed for Gaza via the Beit Hanoon (Erez) crossing in the north and Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in the south.