IRIA News

6 minute read

Israeli air and artillery attacks have killed more than 50 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, with 36 civilians, mostly women and children, killed in a pre-dawn strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City.

The strike on the Fahmi Al Jarjawi School marks a grim escalation in Israel’s ongoing military campaign, now in its 19th month. The attack occurred in the densely populated Daraj neighborhood, igniting fires that engulfed sleeping civilians and their meager belongings.

“The school was hit three times while people slept,” said Fahmy Awad, head of the Gaza Ministry of Health’s emergency service. Among the victims were a father and his five children. Dozens more were injured in the assault, local hospitals reported.

Videos circulating on social media depict a scene of chaos and horror: smoke rising from the rubble, scorched mattresses, and charred bodies being pulled from the debris. Rescue workers are seen battling flames as they search for survivors.

Palestinian Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal confirmed that the school had been housing “hundreds” of displaced individuals. “Those killed were mostly children and women,” Basal added.

The Israeli military said that it conducted the strike on a command-and-control center allegedly used by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad for intelligence operations. “Terrorist organizations operate in civilian areas, which leads to these tragic outcomes,” an Israeli military spokesperson stated. The military did not offer specific evidence for the alleged militant presence at the school.

Israel’s explanation for attacking school shelter is unlikely to quell international concerns. Under international humanitarian law, schools and civilian shelters are protected sites unless there is clear evidence of their direct use for military purposes. Even in such cases, proportionality and precautions must be observed.

The attack on Fahmi Al Jarjawi School was not an isolated event. Similar strikes have been reported throughout the conflict. In November 2023, Israeli bombs and artillery fire killed at least 50 people at the Al Buraq School in Gaza City. In August, over 100 were killed at Al Tabin School while attending morning prayers.

Monday’s violence was not confined to Gaza City. In Jabalia, northern Gaza, an Israeli strike on a residential home killed 16 members of the same family, including five women and two children, according to officials at al-Shifa Hospital.

Meanwhile, Israel reported that three projectiles were fired from Gaza towards southern Israel. Two landed within the enclave, and one was intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. While such rocket fire continues sporadically, it has significantly diminished in scale compared to the early stages of the war.

The attacks come amid what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described last week as an “intensified” phase of the war. Netanyahu vowed to continue military operations until Israel achieves “full control” over the entire Gaza Strip. This declaration comes despite growing international calls for a ceasefire and rising concern over the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza.

The humanitarian toll is staggering. More than 1.9 million people, over 80% of Gaza’s population, have been displaced. Civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, water systems, and schools, lies in ruins. The United Nations and humanitarian agencies have repeatedly warned that the enclave is on the brink of famine.

On Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) delivered a dire update from Geneva. “We are at stock zero of close to 64 percent of medical equipment and stock zero of 43 percent of essential medicines and 42 percent of vaccines,” said Hanan Balkhy, the WHO’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean.

“Can you imagine a surgeon [fixing] a broken bone with no anesthesia? IV fluids, needles, bandages, they do not exist in the quantities that are required,” Hanan Balkhy said.

According to Balkhy, the WHO currently has 51 trucks filled with aid waiting at the Gaza border, still awaiting clearance to enter. Although Israel recently loosened the blockade slightly, initially imposed in March, humanitarian agencies say the aid allowed in remains woefully inadequate.

Among the most critical shortages are painkillers, antibiotics, and medications for chronic illnesses. “Basic medications such as antibiotics, painkillers, and drugs for chronic diseases were in short supply,” Balkhy noted, underscoring the dire state of Gaza’s healthcare system.

In #Gaza, UNRWA shelters are overwhelmed with displaced people desperately seeking safety — but no place is safe and no area has been spared from hostilities.

Many families are sheltering in abandoned, unfinished, or damaged buildings. Sanitation conditions are dire — in some… pic.twitter.com/mZqGb5TQBN

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) May 26, 2025

International reactions to the school strike are expected in the coming days, but previous appeals for restraint and investigations into civilian casualties have yielded few tangible results. Israel maintains that it does not target civilians deliberately and accuses Hamas of using human shields by embedding military assets in civilian areas, a claim Hamas denies.

Still, human rights organizations say that regardless of intent, the pattern of attacks on shelters, schools, and homes points to a disregard for civilian life. The United Nations has documented numerous incidents where civilian infrastructure was struck without clear evidence of military use.

As the conflict grinds on, the civilian population in Gaza bears the brunt. Families continue to seek refuge in overcrowded shelters, many of which are now proven unsafe. The repeated targeting of these sites has not only devastated communities but also eroded any sense of safety for those displaced.

With no ceasefire in sight and diplomatic efforts at an impasse, the death toll continues to rise, and with it, the anguish of a people caught between militant groups and a relentless military offensive.

May 26 attack on the Fahmi Al Jarjawi School stands yet another painful chapter in a war where the line between combatant and civilian has become increasingly blurred.