GAZA CITY: Israel faced widespread international condemnation on Thursday after an airstrike killed 18 people at a school-turned-shelter for displaced Palestinians in Gaza. The UN-run Al-Jawni School in Nuseirat was targeted by the Israeli military on Wednesday, resulting in the collapse of the building.
The school, operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), had been serving as a refuge for those displaced by the ongoing Israeli bombardments. Gaza civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal reported the strike on Telegram, noting that this was the fifth attack on the school, which has been repurposed as a shelter for displaced Palestinians.
“For the fifth time, Israeli forces bombed the UNRWA-run Al-Jawni School, killing 18 citizens,” a Gaza civil defence spokesperson said.
UNRWA confirmed that six of its staff members were killed in the Israeli strike, marking the highest number of fatalities among its team in a single attack. The agency identified some of those killed as key personnel including the manager of the shelter. “Among those killed was the manager of the UNRWA shelter and other team members providing assistance to displaced people,” it said on X. “Schools and other civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times; they are not a target,” UNRWA stated on X (formerly Twitter).
UN Secretary-General António Guterres termed the strike as “totally unacceptable,” demanding accountability and protection for humanitarian sites. Guterres’ sentiment was echoed by Germany, a key ally of Israel, which said that humanitarian aid workers must be protected from violence.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Kingdom’s strongest condemnation of Israeli occupation forces targeting a school that was hosting displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia stressed the need for an immediate ceasefire, protection of unarmed civilians, and an end to the unprecedented humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli violations of international laws and norms.
The Kingdom reaffirmed its complete rejection of targeting relief facilities, organizations, and their workers, stressing the responsibility of the global community to activate mechanisms of international accountability and put an end to these ongoing Israeli violations of international and humanitarian laws.
According to the SPA, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jasem Albudaiwi has also condemned the Israeli occupation forces’ bombing of a United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) school in Al Nuseirat camp.
In a statement, Albudaiwi emphasized the urgent need for the international community to take a firm position against the Israeli occupation forces to stop the continuous and systematic violations against the Palestinian people that have resulted in the tragic loss of tens of thousands of innocent civilian lives.
He added that the deliberate targeting of relief and UN staff represents yet another heinous crime added to the long list of repeated war crimes committed by the occupation forces in Gaza.
He urged the global community to take action to address the unlawful practices of the Israeli government and its policy of collective punishment imposed on the besieged residents of Gaza and the entire Palestinian population.
Jordan and the European Union also expressed strong criticism. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell voiced outrage over the deaths, condemning the strikes as a blatant disregard for international humanitarian law.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for the protection of humanitarian sites, emphasizing that the United States continues to press Israel on this issue.
Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said that UNRWA had not provided the names of the deceased. UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma countered that the agency provides Israel with a list of its staff annually. She said that the agency has repeatedly requested independent investigations into claims that civilian facilities might be used for military purposes.
Survivors of the attack described the harrowing aftermath, with one man recounting stepping over “shredded limbs” while trying to recover bodies and belongings from the rubble. “We’ve been going through hell for 340 days now,” he said.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini highlighted the severe impact of the conflict on humanitarian staff, noting that at least 220 agency employees have been killed since the war began. “Endless & senseless killing, day after day,” Lazzarini wrote on X. “Humanitarian staff, premises & operations have been blatantly & unabatedly disregarded since the beginning of the war.”
Across Gaza, many school buildings have been repurposed to shelter displaced families, with the vast majority of the territory’s 2.4 million people repeatedly uprooted by Israeli bombardments.
In Gaza City, civil defence spokesman Bassal said two Israeli strikes in the Zeitun neighbourhood killed seven people — including two children. Later, he said two people were killed in the Jabalia refugee camp. Medical sources said five people were killed in Israeli strikes in the Khan Younis area.
The ongoing Israeli bombardment campaign shows no signs of abating despite months of ceasefire talks mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
A Hamas delegation met Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Doha on Wednesday, the Palestinian group said, though there was no indication of a breakthrough.
Since October 7, Israel has launched a relentless bombardment campaign in Gaza killing at least 41,118 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry. The UN rights office said that most of the dead are women and children.
