Last week, more than 100 people were killed after Israel struck a school in Gaza City housing displaced Palestinians, as the United Nations accused Israel of intensifying attacks on schools.
The attack on al-Talbin School on Saturday during dawn prayers sparked global outrage.
Paramedics at the scene described the carnage as horrific, with “bodies torn to pieces”. Israel claimed that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters operated from the school – a claim that was rejected by Hamas.
Israel has repeatedly attacked Gaza schools, hospitals and universities, claiming the buildings were used for military purposes, without providing any evidence.
With numerous evacuation orders since the start of the war in Gaza on October 7, schools have frequently been used to shelter nearly two million displaced Palestinians in the besieged enclave.
Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, schools are considered civil objects and must be protected against attack. However, over a 10-day period in August, Israeli forces attacked five schools in Gaza City, killing more than 179 people and injuring many others.
Where did the attacks on schools take place in August?
At least 15 people were killed and more than 29 injured in an Israeli attack on the Dalal al-Mughrabi School on August 1, officials said.
Two days later, attacks on Hamama and al-Huda schools killed 17 people and injured more than 60 people.
On August 4, at least 30 people were killed and 19 others were injured after Israel attacked the Nassr and Hassan Salameh schools in the Nassr neighborhood of Gaza City.
Israel bombed the Abdul Fattah Hamouda and Az-Zahra schools, killing 17 people and injuring dozens of others on August 8.
The worst attack in recent weeks occurred at al-Tabin School, which Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said was hit by at least three missile strikes.
The UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, condemned the attack.
“Israel is genocidal of Palestinians, one neighborhood at a time, one hospital at a time, one school at a time, one refugee camp at a time, one ‘safe zone’ at a time. With weapons from the USA and Europe”, she posted on X.
Previous Israeli attacks on schools
In July, a similar campaign targeting school shelters across the Gaza Strip killed nearly 50 people in one week.
Almost 85 percent of school buildings in Gaza were damaged, and almost all schools in North Gaza were “directly hit” or damaged. This is followed by Gaza City, where more than 90 percent of schools were damaged or destroyed.
According to data compiled by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as of July 6, 564 schools in the Gaza Strip were directly hit or damaged by Israeli attacks.
- In North Gaza, 95 school buildings were damaged or destroyed.
- In Gaza City, 208 school buildings were damaged or directly hit.
- Deir el-Balah, which in recent weeks was part of the designated safe areas, had 70 school buildings attacked.
- Khan Younis, where a large population of 75,000 people were forced to flee days ago, had 125 school buildings directly hit and damaged.
- In Rafah, 66 school buildings were directly hit or damaged.
Are attacks on schools in Gaza increasing?
There has been an increasing trend by Israeli forces to attack school shelters housing thousands of people displaced by war.
According to data compiled by UNICEF, as of November, the number of schools directly affected increased fivefold, as the number of schools affected rose from 60 to almost 340.
The total number of children killed during the war has risen to more than 16,500, while the total death toll in Gaza is almost 40,000.
The increase in the number of attacks on school shelters comes amid global calls for a ceasefire and regional pressure to end the attack on Gaza, which has turned into a vast desert of rubble.
But experts say continued Israeli attacks on Gaza risk derailing those efforts, with some accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to sabotage any possible deal to end the war.
Additionally, analysts told Al Jazeera that Israel’s military strategically uses disproportionate violence.
“The Israeli military failed both to secure the release of the hostages and to deal a ‘death blow’ to Hamas,” said Tariq Kenney-Shawa, a political member of Al-Shabaka, a Palestinian political network, who observed “Massive attacks… give give the Israeli government and military something to point to as a ‘victory’ if they result in the deaths of Hamas leaders and large numbers of civilians, because this fits into Israel’s broader strategy of deterrence through unparalleled destruction.”
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
