Dozens killed and wounded in Israeli bombing of a school sheltering displaced people in Khan Yunis

The number of victims of the Israeli airstrike that targeted, on Tuesday evening, the gate of the "Al-Awda" school, which shelters displaced Palestinians in the town of Abasan, east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, has risen to 25 martyrs and more than 53 wounded.

The official Palestinian news agency (WAFA) reported that the Israeli occupation army targeted the school gate through airstrikes, while the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip said in a statement that "the number of martyrs in the occupation's massacre against the displaced in the Al-Awda School in the town of Abasan, east of Khan Yunis, has risen to 25," adding that the number of injuries has exceeded "53, including serious and critical cases that medical teams are still dealing with."

Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the government media office in Gaza, said in a statement to reporters that the number of martyrs as a result of the Israeli bombing of the school in Abasan "is likely to increase," stressing that the occupation army "is bombing places that it knows are crowded with displaced people."

Earlier, the ministry said in its initial report that the Israeli occupation army "committed a heinous massacre against the displaced by targeting the gate of a school housing displaced people in Abasan, killing 19 Palestinians." The Palestinian Red Crescent Society also reported in a statement that "Israel targeted a school housing displaced people in Abasan, resulting in dozens of injuries and a number of martyrs."

On July 1, the Israeli occupation army ordered residents of eastern areas of Khan Yunis, including the town of Abasan, to leave, claiming that it was a “dangerous combat zone.” A number of displaced persons did not respond to this order, which forced them to flee under the threat of bombing, due to the lack of places they could go to after the areas that Israel claims are “safe” became crowded with displaced persons.

Since the beginning of the war, the occupation army has targeted a number of shelters for displaced Palestinians in different areas of the Gaza Strip, resulting in dozens of martyrs and wounded, amid Arab and international condemnations and demands to stop endangering shelters, but without an Israeli response.

UNRWA: Destruction everywhere in Khan Younis

For its part, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Monday that "the destruction in the streets of Khan Yunis city in the southern Gaza Strip is widespread, with the remaining buildings hanging by a thread, and huge holes along the roads filled with rubble."

UNRWA Communications Officer Louise Waterridge posted a video on her X account showing the destruction in the empty streets of Khan Younis. Describing the situation in the city, Waterridge said: “Everywhere you look, there is destruction.”

“Driving through Khan Younis today, any remaining buildings are hanging by a thread, huge craters line the rubble-strewn roads, and there is little hope for those who remain here,” the UN official added, highlighting the familiar sight of desperate Palestinian families in Gaza taking shelter in a destroyed UNRWA school.

On Tuesday, UNRWA expected that 250,000 Palestinians would be forced to flee again from Khan Yunis, the largest number of displaced people since last October.

Since October 7, Israel, with American support, has been waging a war on Gaza, resulting in more than 126,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that has claimed the lives of dozens of children.

Tel Aviv continues this war, ignoring the UN Security Council resolutions to stop it immediately, and the International Court of Justice orders to end the invasion of Rafah (south), take measures to prevent acts of genocide, and improve the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.