At least 16 dead in Israeli attack on UNRWA school for displaced people in Gaza, ministry says

CNN
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At least 16 Palestinians were killed and 50 others injured in an Israeli attack at UNRWA’s Al-Jaouni school, which houses displaced people in the al-Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, the Palestinian Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip said on Saturday.

CNN cannot independently verify the department’s figures.

A displaced person from the school told CNN that children were among the injured.

“There was a swing here, there were swings here, (children) were playing. What was their fault?” he said, holding his little daughter. “We hardly found this place in the school, but even the school is not safe.”

A CNN video shows several injured children arriving at a nearby hospital after the attack.

The Israeli military said in a statement on Saturday that militants were operating in buildings in the school district.

“This location served as a hiding place and operational infrastructure from which attacks on IDF (Israel Defense Forces) troops operating in the Gaza Strip were directed and carried out,” the statement continued.

CNN cannot independently verify the Israeli military’s claim.

Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s communications director, told CNN that UNRWA does not yet have all the information, adding that half of UNRWA’s facilities in the Gaza Strip have been hit since October 7.

“At least 500 people seeking refuge in these (UNRWA) facilities were killed, many of them women and children,” she added.

The news comes just as it appeared that progress was being made in long-stalled negotiations over the release of the hostages and a ceasefire. A senior Hamas official told CNN that the militant group was willing to reconsider its demand that Israel commit to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza before signing a deal that would initiate a temporary truce and begin a process to release the hostages.

Meanwhile, the almost weekly demonstrations against the Israeli government continued on Saturday. Thousands gathered in Tel Aviv’s Democracy Square to demand new elections and the release of hostages, unhappy with the way Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is handling issues such as the war in Gaza.

In a statement, Israeli police said two protesters were arrested at the demonstration in Tel Aviv, citing violations of public order and security-threatening behavior, including “lighting bonfires in the street.”

Police said they had deployed a large number of officers to ensure security and order and had broken up the demonstration after protesters illegally gathered on Menachem Begin Road despite having been given permission and attempted to block it.

Protesters waved Israeli flags and held signs criticizing Netanyahu, while police used water cannon to disperse the demonstrators who blocked traffic on the Ayalon highway.

“After most of the protesters had dispersed naturally and in view of the violations of public order by a handful of protesters, the police had to declare the demonstration illegal,” the police statement said.

“When the rioters were dispersed, the police arrested two suspects.”

The Israeli police also warned that they would “show zero tolerance towards those who disturb order and do not obey the orders of the police officers.”

Israeli National Unity leader and former War Minister Benny Gantz attended a rally demanding the release of the hostages.

The often weekly demonstrations have not yet changed the political landscape and Netanyahu still has a stable majority in parliament.

Additional reporting by Hamdi Alkhshali and Lauren Izso

This is a developing story and will be updated.