Palestinian health officials report that at least 33 individuals, including 23 women and children, were murdered in an Israeli attack yestarday on a school in central Gaza that was providing shelter to displaced families.
Witnesses and hospital officials reported that the predawn strike occurred at the al-Sardi School, which is operated by UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees yet there were several Palestinian students in the school.
Ayman Rashed, a displaced Gaza City resident who was sheltering at the school, claimed the missiles struck classrooms on the second and third floors, where families were sheltering.
He claimed to have assisted in the removal of five bodies, including an elderly man and two children, one of whom had his head shattered open. “It was dark, with no electricity, and we struggled to get out the victims,” Rashed recalled.
Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli military, stated that the army was unaware of any civilian casualties in the strike.
According to him, intelligence revealed that at least 20 militants were actively using the school compound as a “staging realm” to launch assaults against Israeli soldiers.
Nine women and 14 children, were reported killed from the strike, according to hospital records and an Associated Press reporter who was present.
Records show that six persons were killed in another hit on a residence overnight. Both strikes occurred in Nuseirat ,one of several built-up refugee camps in Gaza .
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