UN School-Turned-Shelter in Gaza Hit by Israeli Airstrike, Killing 18 Including UN Staff

An Israeli airstrike on a UN school in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, which had been serving as a shelter for thousands of displaced Palestinians, has resulted in the deaths of at least 18 people, including six UNRWA employees, and at least 44 others injured, CNN reports.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the airstrike, claiming it targeted “terrorists” operating inside the school compound and that the school was being used by Hamas to plan attacks. The IDF stated that “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians” and that Hamas’s use of civilian infrastructure constitutes a violation of international law.

However, UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian humanitarian relief, strongly condemned the attack, calling it the highest death toll among their staff in a single incident since the current conflict began. The Al Jaouni UNRWA facility, which had been sheltering an estimated 12,000 displaced people, including women and children, had not functioned as a school since October.

This is the fifth time the school compound has been targeted since October 7. Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said search operations were ongoing amid the rubble, with children and women among the injured.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini expressed his outrage, stating that at least 220 UNRWA staff have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began. He warned that continued impunity would render international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions meaningless.

Footage from the scene showed the devastating impact of the airstrike, with debris strewn across the compound, blood stains on the ground, and a gaping hole in what appears to be a classroom. Witnesses spoke of the chaos and confusion, with some desperately searching for missing family members.

At Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, footage shows trucks and ambulances transferring injured people and bodies to the hospital. The emergency room floor is overcrowded with the injured while medical teams struggle to provide aid.

Nuseirat is one of Gaza’s most densely populated camps, and its population has swollen since the war began. Since October 7, more than 41,000 people have been killed and 95,000 injured in Gaza, according to the latest figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health. CNN cannot verify casualty numbers. Medical records in the war-torn enclave do not differentiate between civilians and militants killed.

Earlier Wednesday, an Israeli bombardment killed one child and six other people in the Qizan Al-Najjar area, near Khan Younis, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense. That followed an overnight strike on a family home in the town of Khuza’a, east of Khan Younis, where at least 11 people were killed, according to the Civil Defense.