UN Condemns Israel for Deadly Strike on Palestinian School in Gaza, Accusing them of Falsifying Death Toll

On Friday, the Israeli army announced that it had eliminated “14 terrorists” in a strike on a school of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the center of the Gaza Strip. This attack left at least 35 people dead, according to the UN. The Hamas media office accused Israel of providing “false information,” stating that three people reported as “dead” by Israel were still “alive,” and that at least two people had been killed in other strikes, adding that the Nousseirat strike had been fatal to “17 children.”

According to Israeli Defense Forces, eight additional terrorists killed in this strike in Nousseirat have been identified, including six members of the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. One of them was found to have participated in the attack on October 7 which sparked the war. Following an attack on an UNRWA school in Nazareth early on Thursday, Israeli military claims to have carried out a “targeted strike” using “precision weapons” on three classes where around 30 terrorists were hiding. The Secretary General of United Nations Antonio Guterres condemned this strike, calling it a new terrifying example of civilians being caught up in the violence in Gaza.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA accused Israel of striking without warning a school that housed 6000 displaced people during an operation launched after a Hamas attack on October 7 which resulted in more than 100 deaths and over 251 hostages taken captive. The conflict has devastated Gaza with more than 36,700 Palestinians killed since its start and most of them being civilians who died from bombings or operations by Israeli army.