Israel claims deadly strike on Hamas in UN school

In Nuseirat, Central Gaza, on Thursday, June 6, the Israeli military carried out “Precise strikes” on a suspected HAMAS compound hidden inside a UNRWA school. The UN organization for Palestinian refugees is called UNRWA. The Israel Military apparently conducted additional recon and aerial surveillance as a precaution to ensure the least amount of uninvolved civilian damages. 

They claim the compound was home to militants engaged in the October 7 attack on Southern Israel. The army stated in their statement that there were Jihadi terrorists and members of HAMAS working in the facility. These terrorists were part of the Nukba Forces and had participated in the attack against Israel on the particular day. Israel went on to say that the terrorists took advantage of the school and used it as a sanctuary, directing terror from its vicinity.

However, HAMAS Media office has clearly stated that at least 39 individuals who were seeking sanctuary at the school were slain in the strike, and has described it as a horrifying mass murder that disgraces humanity. The head of the government media office controlled by Hamas, Ismail Al-Thawabta, has categorically refuted claims made by Israel that the UN school was hiding a HAMAS base.

The ongoing confrontation between Israel and Gaza has been one of the bloodiest wars the two countries have seen. The attack on the Southern Israel border on October 7 was spearheaded by HAMAS and claimed 1,194 lives, the majority of them civilians. Additionally, 251 hostages were taken by militants; 120 of them are still in Gaza, and 41 of them are said to have been executed. Israel’s subsequent ground invasion and shelling of Gaza resulted in the deaths of at least 36,586 persons, the most of them civilians. 

Israel has been subject to increasing sanctions since the attack due to its handling of the conflict; charges against it are pending before two world courts, and some European countries have recognized Palestine as a state. Israel has repeatedly charged that Hamas and its affiliates in Gaza are operating out of civilian infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and other establishments. Since January, when Israel charged roughly a dozen of UNRWA’s 13,000 staff on the ground of being engaged in the October 7 attack, the organization, which oversees almost all kinds of aid to Gaza, has been embroiled in a crisis.

39 people lost their lives in Thursday’s incident, while numerous others were injured. Those who were killed and wounded were sent to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Early in the evening, the hospital’s electrical generator failed, making patient care more difficult. Due to Israeli bombings in central Gaza, the hospital has already seen at least 70 deaths and over 300 injuries since Tuesday, the majority of which were women and children.