Air Delivered event in Palestine on Tue 9th July 2024

A Gaza hospital source said at least 10 people were killed and dozens wounded Tuesday in a strike on a school turned shelter for displaced Palestinians, the fourth such attack in four days.

The strike hit the gate at the Al-Awda school in Abasan, near the southern city of Khan Yunis, said the source at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis where victims were taken. There was no immediate comment from Israel, which has acknowledged carrying out three other strikes since Saturday on Gaza schools used as displacement shelters.

At least 20 people were killed in these attacks, according to officials in the Hamas-run territory. Israel said all three strikes targeted militants hiding in the schools.

On Saturday, an Israeli strike hit the UN-run Al-Jawni school in Nuseirat, central Gaza, killing 16 people, according to the territory’s health ministry. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said 2,000 people were sheltering there at the time.

The following day a strike on the church-run Holy Family school in Gaza City killed four, according to the civil defence agency. The Latin Patriarchate, owners of the school, said hundreds of people had packed the grounds.

Another UNRWA-run school in Nuseirat was hit on Monday, with a local hospital saying several people were taken for treatment. Israel said it targeted “several terrorists” using the school for cover. Hamas has denied Israeli claims that it uses schools, hospitals and other civilian facilities for military aims.

According to UNRWA, more than 500 people have been killed in schools and other shelters it runs in Gaza since the war started on October 7 with the Hamas attack on Israel.