International

Israel bombs UNRWA school in Gaza, kills 32 displaced Palestinians

Published

10 months ago

June 6, 2024

A man embraces an injured child as a medic speaks to a woman following Israeli bombardment on Bureij, at a trauma ward at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip. on June 4, 2024 [ Bashar Taleb/AFP]

Israel bombs UNRWA school in Gaza, kills 32 displaced Palestinians

Israeli forces have bombed a United Nations-linked school in central Gaza, killing at least 32 displaced Palestinians and injuring dozens more, according to officials and local media.

Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, condemned the predawn attack on Thursday as a “horrible massacre” and said many women and children were among those killed and wounded.

The Palestinian Wafa news agency put the death toll at 32.

The agency said that thousands of displaced Palestinians were sheltering at the Nuseirat camp’s al-Sardi school, which is linked to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), when it came under attack.

Ismail al-Thawabta, a spokesman for Gaza’s Government Media Office, said “huge numbers of dead and wounded” were arriving at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza.

“This horrible massacre committed by the Israeli occupation is clear evidence of genocide, ethnic cleansing against civilians, including women and children and displaced people in the Gaza Strip,” he told reporters.

The dead and wounded were overwhelming the hospital, “which is filled with wounded patients three times beyond its clinical capacity”, he added. “This portends a real disaster that will lead to an even greater increase in the number of martyrs.”

‘Apocalyptic’ violence

Israel’s military confirmed the bombing, saying its fighter jets struck a “Hamas compound embedded inside an UNRWA school in the area of Nuseirat”. It claimed the bombing “eliminated terrorists who were planning to carry out attacks” against its forces.

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Hamas rejected the Israeli statement.

“The occupation uses lying to the public opinion through false, fabricated stories to justify the brutal crime it conducted against dozens of displaced people,” al-Thawabta told the Reuters news agency.

The attack on al-Sardi came as Israeli forces stepped up their bombardment of Gaza even as the United States and mediators continued to press ahead with an effort to secure a ceasefire deal.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said prior to the latest attack on Nuseirat, Israeli forces had killed at least 102 people in 24 hours. These included attacks on the Bureij and Maghazi refugee camps, also located in central Gaza.

Doctors Without Borders, in a statement earlier on Wednesday, described the situation in Gaza as “apocalyptic”. The group, which is known by its French acronym MSF, said the Al-Aqsa Hospital had received 70 dead people and more than 300 injured since Tuesday, and that the majority of the casualties were women and children.

“The odour of blood in the hospital’s emergency room this morning was unbearable. There are people lying everywhere, on the floor, outside … bodies were being brought in plastic bags. The situation is overwhelming,” said Karin Huster, an MSF official.

The “insane escalation of violence” across the Gaza Strip and the closure of the Rafah border crossing – which has halted most humanitarian deliveries into the Palestinian enclave – has stretched the health system to the “point of collapse”, she said.

“This man-made catastrophe needs to stop now,” she added.

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At least 36,586 Palestinians have been killed and 83,074 have been wounded in Israel’s eight-month war on Gaza. The brutal assault, which some countries and UN experts say amounts to genocide, began after Hamas fighters launched attacks inside Israel on October 7 of last year, killing at least 1,139 people and taking dozens of others captive.

Ceasefire talks

Efforts to end the war have so far made little headway, however.

William Burns, the director of the CIA, was in Qatar’s capital, Doha, on Wednesday to discuss a three-phase truce proposal touted last week by US President Joe Biden. The first phase calls for a six-week ceasefire, during which Hamas would free some of the captives and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza’s population centres and negotiations would continue for a permanent truce.

Regional and international powers have backed the proposal, but sticking points remain. Hamas has insisted on a permanent ceasefire and full withdrawal of Israeli troops.

Israel, however, has rejected those demands, saying it is prepared to discuss only temporary pauses until Hamas is defeated.

Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, on Wednesday reiterated the group’s stance.

“The movement and factions of the resistance will deal seriously and positively with any agreement that is based on a comprehensive ending of the aggression and the complete withdrawal and prisoners swap,” he said.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said there would be no halt to the fighting.

“Any negotiations with Hamas would be conducted only under fire,” Gallant was quoted as saying as he flew on board a plane to inspect the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

Israel bombs UNRWA school in Gaza, kills 32 displaced Palestinians

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

Related Topics:Featured Gaza Israel Palestinians UNRWA

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Over 330 dead as Israel unleashes ‘hell fire’ on Gaza

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March 18, 2025

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Over 330 dead as Israel unleashes ‘hell fire’ on Gaza

Israel vowed on Tuesday to continue fighting in Gaza until the return of all hostages as it unleashed its most intense strikes since a ceasefire, with the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory reporting more than 330 people killed.

Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of deciding to “resume war” after an impasse in truce negotiations, and warned that the return to fighting could be a “death sentence” for hostages still alive in Gaza.

The strikes were by far the biggest and deadliest since a truce took effect on January 19. Hamas has not responded to the strikes so far.

Netanyahu warned Hamas this month of consequences it “cannot imagine” if it does not free hostages still in Gaza, and Israeli media said Israel had drafted plans to ramp up pressure on Hamas under a scheme dubbed the “Hell Plan”.

The White House said Israel consulted US President Donald Trump’s administration before launching the wave of strikes, which the health ministry in Gaza said killed mostly women and children.

Netanyahu’s office said the operation was ordered after “Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators”.

“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” the statement said.

“We will not stop fighting as long as the hostages are not returned home and all our war aims are not achieved,” Defence Minister Israel Katz said.

Apart from the release of the remaining hostages, Israel’s other main war aim is to crush Hamas.

In a statement, Hamas said: “Netanyahu and his extremist government have decided to overturn the ceasefire agreement.

“Netanyahu’s decision to resume war is a decision to sacrifice the occupation’s prisoners and impose a death sentence on them,” it said.

A Hamas official said the group was “working with mediators” to stop the strikes, adding that the movement had “adhered to the ceasefire”.

‘Fire of hell’

In Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, AFP footage showed people rushing stretchers with wounded people, including young children, to the Nasser Hospital. Bodies covered with white sheets were also taken to the hospital’s mortuary.

Mohammed Jarghoun, 36, was sleeping in a tent near his destroyed house in Khan Yunis when he was woken by huge blasts.

“I thought they were dreams and nightmares, but I saw a fire in my relatives’ house. More than 20 martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women.”

Ramez Alammarin, 25, described carrying children to hospital southeast of Gaza City.

“They unleashed the fire of hell again on Gaza,” he said of Israel, adding that “bodies and limbs are on the ground, and the wounded cannot find any doctor to treat them.

“They bombed a building in the area and there are still martyrs and wounded under the rubble… fear and terror. Death is better than life.”

Families of Israeli hostages in Gaza pleaded with Netanyahu to “stop the killing and disappearance” of their loved ones, and called for a protest in front of the premier’s residence.

‘Hell will break loose’

Brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, the initial phase of the ceasefire took effect on January 19, largely halting more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

That first phase ended in early March, and the two sides have been unable to agree on the next steps.

Mohammed Zaqut, head of the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, said “at least 330 deaths” had been recorded, “most of them Palestinian women and children”.

He said there were “hundreds of wounded, dozens of them in critical condition”.

Israel ordered all schools near the Gaza border to shut, amid fear of attack.

US envoy Witkoff told CNN on Sunday he had offered a “bridge proposal” that would see five living hostages, including Israeli-American Edan Alexander, released in return for freeing a “substantial amount of Palestinian prisoners” from Israel jails.

Hamas had said it was ready to free Alexander and the remains of four others.

Witkoff said Hamas had provided “an unacceptable response” and “the opportunity is closing fast”.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump’s administration had been consulted ahead of Israel’s operation.

“As President Trump has made it clear, Hamas, the Huthis, Iran, all those who seek to terrorise not just Israel, but also the United States of America, will see a price to pay — all hell will break loose,” she said.

Yemen’s Huthis, part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” against Israel and the United States, vowed to escalate its attacks in the Red Sea in solidarity with Hamas.

Deadlock

During the first phase of the truce, Hamas released 33 hostages, including eight deceased, and Israel freed around 1,800 Palestinian detainees.

Since then, Hamas has consistently demanded negotiations for the second phase.

Former US president Joe Biden had outlined a second phase which would involve the release of remaining living hostages, the withdrawal of all Israeli forces left in Gaza and the establishment of a lasting ceasefire.

Israel, however, seeks to extend the first phase until mid-April, insisting any transition to the second phase must include “the total demilitarisation” of Gaza and the removal of Hamas, which has controlled the territory since 2007.

The talks have been deadlocked, and Israel has cut aid and electricity to the territory.

Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack resulted in 1,218 deaths on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, while Israel’s retaliatory response in Gaza has killed at least 48,572 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the two sides.

Of the 251 hostages seized during the attack, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Both Russia and China warned against an escalation in Gaza.

Over 330 dead as Israel unleashes ‘hell fire’ on Gaza

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Trump revokes security details for Biden’s children

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Former US President Joe Biden and US President Donald Trump

Trump revokes security details for Biden’s children

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is withdrawing Hunter Biden’s government bodyguards, extending his campaign of political retribution to Joe Biden’s son.

Trump announced the same measure against Ashley Biden, the former president’s daughter with former first lady Jill.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump asserted that Hunter Biden’s security detail is composed of as many as 18 people, calling it “ridiculous.”

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Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act, deports over 200 gang members

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2 days ago

March 17, 2025

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U.S President Donald Trump

Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act, deports over 200 gang members

US President Donald Trump issued a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, accusing Tren de Aragua of “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion of predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.”

He announced that members of the gang will be deported for engaging in “irregular warfare” against the United States. The Alien Enemies Act was last used during WWII to imprison Japanese-American civilians.

On Saturday evening, US District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, DC, issued a 14-day freeze to deportations covered by Trump’s proclamation, pending more legal arguments.

After lawyers informed him that planes carrying deportees had already taken off, Judge Boasberg issued a verbal order for the planes to return, according to US media, though this command was not included in his written ruling.

According to Reuters, the written notice was filed in the court docket at 19:25 EDT on Saturday (00:25 GMT on Sunday), but it is unknown when the flights carrying the alleged gang members left the United States.

In a court filing on Sunday, Department of Justice lawyers stated that the order did not apply since the deportees “had already been removed from United States territory”.

The Justice Department has appealed the judge’s decision.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which was participating in the case against the Trump administration, stated that the court order may have been breached.

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The case presents constitutional issues because, under the US system of checks and balances, government entities are expected to follow a federal judge’s decision.

Venezuela denounced Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, claiming it “unjustly criminalises Venezuelan migration” and “evokes the darkest episodes in the history of humanity, from slavery to the horror of Nazi concentration camps.”

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Amnesty International USA commented on X that the deportations were “yet another example of the Trump administration’s racist targeting” of Venezuelans “based on sweeping claims of gang affiliation”.

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El Salvador was the second country Rubio visited as the US’s top diplomat.

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