'Beyond horrific': Several children killed in Israeli attack on Gaza school
Al Jazeera :
At least eight people have been killed, including children, in an Israeli bombardment of the Halimah al-Saadiyah School in Jabalia an-Nazla, in northern Gaza, where displaced Palestinians were sheltering, according to sources at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City who spoke to Al Jazeera.
Several people were also injured in the attack. Survivors relayed a harrowing scene of an inferno.
“I saw the whole area filled with dust – that’s when I realised the strike had hit this place,” Abu Haitham Khalla told Al Jazeera, standing among the rubble.
“The panic, fear, and terror that swept through the school was overwhelming. There were about 1,000 displaced people sheltering here – tents and classrooms all being used as refuge,” he said.
“So far, 10 people have been confirmed killed, in addition to many injuries – all of them women and children,” he added.
Another witness, Ahmed Khalla, said he found dead victims lying on the floor of a classroom. “Children torn apart, charred. Women who had done absolutely nothing. The scenes were beyond horrific. I saw a little girl without a head – literally, without a head.”
Israeli missiles struck the Halimah al-Saadiyah School late at night as people slept.
Reporting from the scene, Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim al-Khalili described the aftermath as “unprecedented”.
“In light of the ongoing Israeli military escalation of attacks targeting various areas across the Gaza Strip, the situation is going from bad to worse,” he said.
“This school had been sheltering thousands of displaced Palestinians who fled their homes in eastern parts of the Strip following the Israeli forced displacement orders. Instead of refuge, they were met with death and destruction,” he added.
Al-Khalili painted a grim picture of the destruction: “The smell of the blood is everywhere. The attack came before midnight as people slept, killing them in the very place they once thought was safe.”
With safe spaces rapidly vanishing, Gaza’s displaced now face an increasingly dire reality. “The situation is catastrophic, as many displaced Palestinians have been left with nowhere to go,” said Al-Khalili.
Separately, Al Jazeera has received reports that at least 10 Palestinians were killed and 16 wounded near the controversial GHF-run aid centre – the only functioning distribution point in Rafah.