On Wednesday, August 21, the Israeli army bombed Salah Al-Din School, which is affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and which houses dozens of displaced persons. The bombing killed seven people and injured about 15 others, including 10 children, according to what was confirmed by the Civil Defense Authority in Gaza Strip and reported by Arab and international media outlets.
This bombing came a few minutes after the occupation forces launched raids on the vicinity of Abu Nuwaira School in the town of Abasan, east of Khan Yunis, and a few hours after the bombing of Mustafa Hafez School, located in the Al-Rimal neighborhood, west of Gaza City. The two schools house hundreds of displaced people who sought refuge there, considering them safe and protected by international law.
According to a statement issued by the Civil Defense, 12 Palestinians were killed and others were injured in the Israeli bombing of Mustafa Hafez School, while public opinion and human rights organizations are still reeling from another bloody toll after the massacre of the Al-Tabeen School, which Israel targeted with bombs on August 10, killing more than 100 displaced Palestinians.
Before this date, Israel targeted six schools inside the Gaza Strip, all of which housed hundreds of displaced people, resulting in about 79 victims, most of whom were women and children, in addition to dozens of others being injured and suffering physical burns, while Israel justifies its continued targeting of schools by saying that the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” uses parts of them as command-and-control centers.
Israeli Army Claims Presence of Militants in Schools Housing Displaced People
Commenting on its targeting of Salah Al-Din School, the Israeli army said that the air force carried out a precise strike targeting Hamas militants who were using the school as a hideout and base to plan and carry out attacks against its forces, without providing clear and sufficient evidence.
The Israeli army merely published an aerial photo of the school building, claiming that its aircraft had precisely targeted a room (marked in red) used by Hamas militants as a command-and-control center, the same claim that Israel has been promoting since the beginning of the war when bombing a school or hospital.
The army also claimed that many steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precision munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence, but the published photos and videos proved that most of the victims of the airstrike were children and women.
The Israeli army constantly talks about Hamas using civilians as human shields and using schools and hospitals as command and planning centers to carry out attacks against its forces; a claim that the Hamas movement has consistently denied and considers to be merely misleading propaganda used by Israel to justify its crimes against innocent civilians.
On Tuesday, August 20, the Israeli army claimed responsibility for the bombing of Mustafa Hafez School, claiming that the bombing targeted “terrorists” who were operating inside the Hamas command and control center.
The army said in a statement published on its official X account that “many steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precision munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence.”
Despite the Israeli army’s claim that the airstrike was accurate and that it only targeted Hamas fighters, photos and videos showed that the victims were children and women who had taken shelter in the school.
A video published by Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif showed the bodies of more than 10 children.
Palestinian Civil Defense spokesman in Gaza, Mahmoud Basal, told Al Araby TV that the Mustafa Hafez School was sheltering more than 700 displaced people in the western Gaza area who had taken refuge there after their homes were destroyed.
Basal added that the occupation bombed an entire block of the school consisting of three floors, all of which were leveled to the ground, stressing that the civil defense and relief teams are unable to reach those trapped under the rubble due to their lack of specialized equipment.
He pointed out that the Israeli occupation army “has intensified its targeting of schools that house hundreds of displaced people since the beginning of August, and that in every targeting operation the number of victims is not less than 15.”
For his part, the head of the Government Media Office in Gaza, Ismail Al-Thawabteh, told Al Araby TV that the occupation bombed Mustafa Hafez School despite knowing that it only houses displaced people.
Al-Thawabteh confirmed that the occupation continues to practice the method of deception to kill the largest number of residents of the Strip, and is intensifying the targeting of civilians in the Strip to exert political pressure. He added, “We are facing a humanitarian catastrophe and a genocidal war in the Strip; it must stop immediately.”
UNRWA Commissioner-General: “Is There Any Humanity Left?”
In response to the continued bombing of schools by the occupying forces, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that “Gaza is no place for children anymore” and considered them “the first casualties of this merciless war.”
Lazzarini added in a post on his official account on the X platform that reports indicated another “horrific attack” on one of UNRWA’s schools, which resulted in the killing and wounding of a number of children and the burning of others to death, asking, “Is there any humanity left?”
Hamas Refutes Allegations of Using Schools as Command Centers
Hamas has consistently dismissed Israeli claims that its fighters operate from schools and hospitals, using them as covert command centers. The group also refutes allegations of employing civilians as human shields.
On Saturday, August 10, Izzat Al-Risheq, a member of Hamas' political bureau, asserted that “fighters from all factions adhere to a strict policy of avoiding civilian areas to protect them from Zionist attacks.”
In a statement following the bombing of Al-Tabeen School, which the media has dubbed the 'Al-Fajr Prayer Massacre,' Al-Risheq claimed that the Israeli army targeted worshippers and unarmed civilians inside the school, labeling the incident “a crime of genocide and a dangerous escalation.”
Al-Risheq further accused, “The terrorist enemy army is once again resorting to lies, fabricating excuses, and absurd pretexts to justify targeting civilians, schools, hospitals, and refugee tents. These are baseless justifications and blatant falsehoods aimed at concealing its crimes,” emphasizing that “there were no armed individuals in Al-Tabeen School.”
Al-Risheq also noted that “the claims by the criminal enemy's army of taking measures to minimize civilian casualties and using precision weapons are an affront to global intelligence, as all 100 martyrs and numerous injured were civilians, with not a single fighter among them.”
In its statement regarding the Israeli army's attack on Salah al-Din School, Hamas declared that “the brutal bombing carried out by the criminal Zionist occupation army of the school, which serves as a shelter for displaced people, is an extension of the genocidal campaign against our people in the Gaza Strip. It further evidences the extremist Zionist government's deliberate targeting of unarmed civilians in shelters and displacement centers.”
Regarding the Israeli army's attack on Salah Al-Din School, Hamas declared that “the brutal bombing carried out by the criminal Zionist occupation army on the school, which serves as a shelter for displaced people, is an extension of the genocidal campaign against our people in the Gaza Strip. It further evidences the extremist Zionist government's deliberate targeting of unarmed civilians in shelters and displacement centers."
A report from the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor indicated that its preliminary investigations at the site of the Israeli attack on a prayer hall in Al-Tabeen School found no evidence or signs of any armed groups.
The report concluded that the school consists entirely of a series of narrow buildings, with sections open to each other and lacking any equipment, where dozens of Palestinian families had taken refuge after being forcibly displaced from their homes, some of which have since been completely erased from the civil registry.
The Euro-Med Monitor clarified that its field and legal team carried out a survey and preliminary investigation at the Al-Tabeen School, which was providing shelter to over 2,500 displaced people in Gaza City. The team gathered data, recorded the statements of witnesses and survivors, and surveyed the location following the attack. According to all available information and testimonies, there were no military gatherings or centers at the school, and it was never used for military objectives. Survivors testified that the school was providing shelter to hundreds of children whose families felt safe there.
In a subsequent report, the Euro-Med Monitor stated that the Israeli army intensified its bombing of schools used as shelters for displaced persons in Gaza City, resulting in the deaths and injuries of hundreds. This escalation coincided with the issuance of illegal forced evacuation orders from northern to southern Gaza, part of a systematic policy to expel residents from their homes and displacement sites, depriving them of stability, seemingly for retaliatory purposes.
The Euro-Med Monitor further explained that bombing and demolishing schools above the heads of the displaced people lacked any legitimate justification. There was no apparent military necessity for these actions. Despite the Israeli army’s repeated attempts to justify the bombings by alleging targets of military or political significance, these claims were not substantiated.
The Euro-Med Monitor confirmed that initial investigations by its field team indicated the Israeli army is deliberately destroying the remaining shelter centers to deny Palestinians what few places remain where they may seek refuge after the systematic and widespread destruction of homes and shelters, including schools and public facilities, over the past ten months.
It also noted that analyzing the strategy behind Israeli bombings reveals a clear policy designed to strip the entire Gaza Strip of any sense of security and to deny Palestinians even temporary shelter or stability. This strategy involves continuous bombings across the Gaza Strip, with a particular focus on targeting shelters, including those housed in UNRWA schools.
Moreover, statistics from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reveal that 117 schools and universities have been entirely destroyed since the onset of the Israeli war on Gaza. In contrast, 332 others have suffered partial destruction.
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