GAZA CITY: An Israeli airstrike on Sunday targeted Kafr Qasim School in the Al-Shati refugee camp, which had been sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians, killing at least seven people, civil defence rescuers in Gaza City said.
The vast majority of the besieged Gaza Strip’s 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once by the ongoing Israeli bombardment campaign since October 7, with many seeking shelter in school buildings.
Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said “seven martyrs and several injured, including serious cases, as a result of Israeli shelling of Kafr Qasim School” in the Al-Shati refugee camp. He said hundreds of displaced Palestinians were sheltering there.
Sunday’s attack adds to the mounting casualties from the ongoing Israeli bombardment campaign, which has killed at least 41,431 Palestinians, mostly women and children. The health ministry in Gaza reported that, in the last 24 hours alone, at least 40 have been killed due to the relentless Israeli strikes.
The airstrike on Kafr Qasim School marks yet another incident in a series of attacks on educational institutions that have been repurposed as shelters for those fleeing the violence. On Saturday, another Israeli strike on a school shelter in Gaza City killed 21 Palestinians.
Furthermore, a previous strike on September 11 at the United Nations-run Al-Jawni School led to international condemnation after at least 18 people including six UNRWA staff members were killed.
The ongoing Israeli violence has displaced a vast majority of Gaza’s 2.4 million residents, many of whom have sought refuge in various school buildings as a result of the intense bombardment that has persisted since October 7.
The health ministry in Gaza said on Sunday that at least 41,431 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the ongoing Israeli bombardment campaign, now in its 12th month.
The toll includes 40 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the health ministry, which said 95,818 people have been injured in the Gaza Strip since October 7. The United Nations has acknowledged these figures as reliable.
