By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Reuters) – Eight Palestinians were killed on Sunday in an Israeli airstrike on a training school near Gaza City that was being used to distribute aid, Palestinian witnesses said, as Israeli tanks advanced towards the southern city of Rafah.
The attack hit part of a vocational school run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which is now providing aid to displaced families, witnesses said.
“Some people came to receive coupons and others had been displaced from their homes and were taking shelter here. Some were filling water, others were receiving coupons, and suddenly we heard something fall. We ran away, those carrying water let us out.” spills,” said Mohammed Tafesh, one of the witnesses.
A Reuters photographer saw a low-rise building completely demolished and bodies wrapped in blankets lying by the road, waiting to be taken away.
“We brought out the martyrs (from under the rubble), one who sold cold drinks and another who sold cakes and others who distributed or received coupons,” Tafesh said. “There are about four or five martyrs and 10 wounded. Thank God, the condition of the wounded is good.”
The Israeli military said the site, which had previously served as UNRWA headquarters, has been used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants. He added that precautionary measures were taken before the attack to reduce the risk of harming civilians.
“This morning (Sunday), IAF fighter jets led by IDF and ISA intelligence attacked terrorist infrastructure where Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists were operating,” the military said in a statement.
“This is another example of Hamas’ systematic exploitation of civilian infrastructure and the civilian population as a human shield for its terrorist activities,” he added.
Hamas denies Israeli accusations that it uses civilians as human shields or civilian facilities for military purposes.
Juliette Touma, UNRWA Communications Director, said the agency was investigating the details of the reported attack before providing more information.
“Since the beginning of the war, we have recorded that almost 190 of our buildings have been attacked. This is the vast majority of our buildings in Gaza,” he said. A total of 193 UNRWA team members have been killed in the conflict, he added.
ADVANCE TOWARDS RAFAH
More than eight months into Israel’s war in the Hamas-administered Palestinian enclave, its advance is focused on the two areas its forces have yet to take: Rafah on the southern edge of Gaza and the area around Deir al- Balah in the center.
Israel’s ground and air campaign in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants swept into southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli counts.
The offensive has killed nearly 37,600 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and left Gaza in ruins.
Residents said Israeli tanks had advanced to the edge of the Mawasi displaced persons camp in northwest Rafah in fierce fighting with Hamas-led fighters, part of an offensive west and north of Rafah in which dozens had been blown up. of houses in recent years. days.
“Fighting with the resistance has been intense. The occupation forces now dominate the Mawasi area, forcing families there to head to Khan Younis,” said one resident, who asked not to be identified, in an application chat.
The Israeli military said it was continuing “targeted operations based on intelligence” in the Rafah area and had located weapons warehouses and tunnel shafts, and killed Palestinian gunmen.
The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad movement said their fighters had attacked Israeli forces in Rafah with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs and pre-planted explosive devices.
Another attack killed two people in Nuseirat, central Gaza.
In Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, health officials at Kamal Adwan Hospital said two babies had died of malnutrition, raising the number of children who have died of malnutrition or dehydration since October 7 to at least 31. , a figure that health officials say. reflects under-recording.
(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-MughrabiAdditional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch, Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem and Mahmoud Issa in GazaEditing by Kevin Liffey and Frances Kerry)