Around 30 other people were injured when Palestinians were forced to evacuate Khan Younis once again.
Israeli attacks on two schools in Gaza have killed at least 15 Palestinians and injured 30 others, while new evacuation orders are given to residents in several districts of the eastern city of Khan Younis.
Many Palestinians remained trapped under the rubble of the schools – Abdel Fattah Hamoud and al-Zahraa – that housed Palestinian families in the Tuffah district of Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary reported on Thursday.
Reporting from the destroyed al-Zahraa School, Palestinian journalist Ibrahim al-Khalili told Al Jazeera that two missiles directly hit the school. He said civil defense teams have so far been unable to rescue survivors trapped at the bottom due to a lack of tools.
“The situation is catastrophic,” he said.
The Israeli military said schools in Gaza City housed Hamas command centers.
“The school complexes were used by terrorists and Hamas commanders… from which they planned and carried out attacks,” the military said in a statement.
Reporting from al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, Khoudary said that in the past two weeks, Israeli forces have attacked at least eight schools across the Gaza Strip.
“Palestinians were sheltering there and seeking refuge… [Israeli forces] have been attacking these schools without any warning, without any warning, and that is why dozens of Palestinians have been killed in these airstrikes,” she said.
At least 39,699 Palestinians were killed and 91,722 injured in Israel’s war in Gazawhich displaced almost the entire population of 2.3 million from the beleaguered enclave due to widespread hunger and the spread of disease.
An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 and more than 200 were taken prisoner.
‘A state of panic’
Meanwhile, the Israeli military also on Thursday renewed evacuation orders for Palestinian residents in several districts in eastern Khan Younis, saying it would act with force against fighters who fired rockets from those areas.
The army posted the evacuation order on X and residents said they received text and audio messages.
It is the second time in a month that thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee Khan Younis under Israeli bombardment.
Residents said families began leaving their homes and heading west toward al-Mawasi, a humanitarianly designated area but which is overcrowded with displaced families from across the enclave.
“People want a place where there is access to water, where there is no trash. Here where we are, there is a huge pile of rubbish right next to us, which is why there are not many people setting up their tents here,” said Khoudary.
She added that there is “a state of panic among Palestinians” who have been ordered to evacuate because “they have nowhere to go, everywhere is full.”
“These people returned to their homes a few days ago when there was another warning to evacuate in recent weeks. The same area is being requested for evacuation,” Khoudary said.
“These same families – children, parents with all their belongings – were scattered across the streets for weeks because they had nowhere to evacuate when Israeli forces warned them.”
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
