The death toll from an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering thousands of displaced civilians in the central Gaza Strip has risen to 40, Palestinian authorities reported on Thursday.
Among the victims were 14 children and nine women, according to a statement from Gaza’s government media office. The attack targeted a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the Nuseirat refugee camp on Wednesday night.
Additionally, 74 displaced civilians were injured, including 23 children and 18 women, the statement added. The media office claimed that since last October, at least 149 shelters have been attacked by Israeli forces in Gaza.
“The Israeli army brutally committed these massacres despite its knowledge of the presence of tens of thousands in displacement centers,” the statement said.
The Israeli army acknowledged hitting the UNRWA school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, asserting that Hamas fighters were hiding inside.
Israel has continued its offensive on Gaza following an October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Nearly 36,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, the vast majority women and children, and over 83,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Eight months into the conflict, large areas of Gaza are in ruins, exacerbated by a severe blockade limiting access to food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which recently ordered Tel Aviv to halt its operations in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians sought refuge from the conflict before it was invaded on May 6.–News Desk