'Everyone is in pieces': Witnesses to Israeli strike on Gaza shelter say there's nowhere safe to go | CBC News LoadedMahmoud Nijim was jolted awake by the sounds of bombs falling nearby early Thursday, as the Israeli military attacked the site of a UN-run school in central Gaza that was serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians.
Israel carried out what it described as a targeted airstrike on Hamas fighters who had sheltered inside the site, with a top official saying at least 35 people had been killed. Health officials in Gaza said Israel's strike killed at least 40 people. UNRWA's Lazzarini said the accusation that armed groups may have been based at the site "are shocking" and against International Humanitarian Law. In a, he said that the agency is "unable to verify" the Israeli claims and condemned the attack on a facility sheltering so many people.The early morning explosion ripped through parts of the school building, tearing holes through the walls and ceilings and showering concrete chunks on the rooms where people slept.
Many of the dead and injured were taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah, about five kilometres away, where patients — including children — were treated on the floor of the overcrowded facility. Officials at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah say doctors treated 23 injured children following the attack on the shelter in the Nuseirat refugee camp, about five kilometres away. At least 14 children were among the dead brought to the hospital, a spokesperson said. In the light of day on Thursday, Abu Daher was among those still at the site as people were clearing the debris of the building they'll continue to shelter in.