The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has announced that six of its staff members were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school it operates in central Gaza.
Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defense agency reported that 18 people were killed in Wednesday’s airstrike on al-Jaouni school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, which is serving as a shelter for thousands of displaced Palestinians.
Israel’s military stated that it conducted a “precise strike on terrorists” who were planning attacks from the school, and that it had implemented measures to prevent civilian casualties.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the strike, declaring, “What is happening in Gaza is completely unacceptable.”
He wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “These severe breaches of international humanitarian law must end immediately.”
UNRWA stated that this attack represents “the highest death toll among our staff in a single incident” since the onset of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in October.
UNRWA also highlighted that this was the fifth time the school had been struck in the past 11 months.
In July, a strike reportedly killed 16 people, which the Israeli military claimed targeted several structures at the school used by Hamas fighters.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, criticized Guterres’ remarks.
He said, “It is unconscionable that the UN continues to condemn Israel in its legitimate fight against terrorists, while Hamas persists in using women and children as human shields.”
Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the UK, and other countries, has denied using schools and other civilian sites for military purposes.
Israeli forces initiated a campaign to dismantle Hamas in response to the group’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 251 people being taken hostage to Gaza.
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, more than 41,080 people have been killed in the territory since then.
Footage of the aftermath of Wednesday’s strike revealed hundreds of people examining the severely damaged ground floor of one wing of al-Jaouni school, along with the ruins of an adjacent structure that seemed to have been obliterated.
Additional footage depicted ambulances transporting injured men, women, and children—reportedly hurt in the strike—to al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah.
Survivors said they had to step over “shredded limbs” as they scrambled over the rubble.
“I can hardly stand up,” one man holding a bag of human remains told AFP news agency.
“We’ve been going through hell for 340 days now. What we’ve seen over these days, we haven’t even seen it in Hollywood movies, now we’re seeing it in Gaza.”
Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal stated on Wednesday night that 18 people were killed, including UNRWA staff members, children, and women, and that an additional 18 individuals were injured.
A Telegram post from the agency identified one of the victims as Shadia, the daughter of rescue worker Momin Salmi. The post noted that Salmi had not seen Shadia for 10 months, as he remained in northern Gaza while his wife and their eight children had fled south.
While media sources could not independently confirm the death toll, a medical source at al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat camp told AFP that a total of 15 people killed in the strike had been brought to both al-Awda and al-Aqsa hospitals.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that aircraft had “conducted a precise strike on terrorists operating within a Hamas command and control center” located inside al-Jaouni school.
“Numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence,” it added.
“This is a further example of the Hamas terrorist organisation’s systematic abuse of civilian infrastructure in violation of international law.”
Gaza’s Hamas-run government media office accused Israel of a “brutal massacre”.
Later, UNRWA stated that two airstrikes had targeted the school and its vicinity, which housed approximately 12,000 displaced people, primarily women and children.
“Among those killed was the manager of the Unrwa shelter and other team members providing assistance to displaced people,” it said.
The agency insisted that “schools and other civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times”, adding: “They are not a target.”
“We call on all parties to the conflict to never use schools or the areas around them for military or fighting purposes.”
Hours before the incident, UNRWA reported in a situation update that nearly 70% of its schools in Gaza had been struck during the conflict.
UNRWA also reported that 214 of its staff members had been killed, along with at least 563 displaced individuals who had been taking shelter in its schools and other facilities.
Israel has previously accused Unrwa of supporting Hamas.
The agency has denied the allegations, but the UN reported in August that it had dismissed nine of UNRWA’s 13,000 staff in Gaza after investigators found evidence suggesting their potential involvement in the October 7 attack. Another 10 staff members were cleared due to a lack of sufficient evidence.
Israel also alleged that hundreds of UNRWA staff were members of terrorist groups. However, a UN review published in April found that Israel had not provided evidence to support these claims.
In a separate development on Wednesday, the IDF reported that two Israeli soldiers were killed and eight others were injured in a helicopter crash that occurred overnight in southern Gaza.
The helicopter was on a mission to transport a critically injured soldier to a hospital for medical treatment when it crashed while attempting to land in the Rafah area, according to a statement.
“An initial inquiry conducted indicates that the crash was not caused by enemy fire. The cause of the crash is still under investigation,” it added.
