The Israeli army confirmed that it killed 17 members of Hamas and Jihad in an airstrike on Thursday on a school belonging to UNRWA in central Gaza, which resulted in at least 35 deaths according to the United Nations. The army stated that the identities of 17 members of Hamas and Jihad who were eliminated in the strike inside several classrooms, where they were allegedly hiding, had been confirmed in a UNRWA school complex in Nuseirat. It added that one of the deceased had "participated" in the attack carried out by Hamas on Israel on October 7, which sparked this war.
The army indicated that it was releasing this new casualty count after identifying eight militants killed in the strike. Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on Thursday that the airstrike had resulted in the elimination of nine Palestinian fighters, some of whom were involved in the October 7 attack.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the Israeli bombing of the school, deeming it a horrifying new example of the price paid by civilians—men, women, and children—who are merely trying to survive, forced to flee amid a whirlwind of death throughout Gaza. The Israeli army accused Hamas of deliberately using this school to launch attacks from there, stressing that it used "precise weapons" to target three classrooms where about thirty Palestinian militants were hiding.
On Friday, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini stated on X that "attacking or targeting UN buildings, or using them for military purposes, represents a blatant disregard for international humanitarian law." Israel is responding with a violent campaign of bombings, airstrikes, and ground attacks that has resulted in the deaths of at least 36,731 people in Gaza, most of whom are civilians, according to the health ministry affiliated with Hamas.
