Survivors of Israeli strike on Gaza school describe finding children’s bodies
Survivors of an Israeli airstrike on a UN school in central Gaza have described finding children’s bodies that had been torn apart by the blast, as Israeli attacks on the area continued for a second night.
Gaza’s head of civil defence said his teams at al-Sardi school in Nuseirat found only civilians among the dead. Mahmoud Basal said the death toll from the attack was more than 40 and still climbing, because injured survivors could not get proper medical care.
The Israeli military said it had targeted “20 to 30” militants who it claimed used the school as a base, and was “not aware” of any civilian casualties. On Thursday a spokesperson gave the names of two Hamas members and seven members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad it said were killed in the strike.
The attack was part of a campaign in parts of central Gaza which Israeli ground forces had targeted earlier in the war before moving on. They have been drawn back by cells of fighters using insurgent warfare tactics.
