Israel bombs another UN school in Gaza, a day after an attack on the school killed 33 people

Israel’s military has bombed another UN-run school in northern Gaza, killing three people, Palestinian emergency officials say. Israel said it targeted a Hamas position at the school.

Friday’s bombing came a day after an Israeli attack on a UN school in central Gaza killed at least 33 people, including 12 women and children, local health officials said. The Israeli military also said in that case that Hamas militants were operating from the school, which the UN said was sheltering displaced Palestinian families.

Friday’s airstrike targeted the Asmaa School in the Shati refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, a facility run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA.

The Israeli military said it hit a shipping container on the grounds of the school, which Hamas used as a meeting point for planning attacks, killing one fighter. Israel’s statement could not be independently confirmed.

The Palestinian Civil Defense said three people were killed in the attack, but did not provide any further details on their identities.

According to UNRWA, more than 180 UN facilities were damaged during Israeli bombings and ground attacks on Gaza. Most of them were schools that housed tens of thousands of people fleeing the violence. Israel accuses Hamas of using schools and other civilian infrastructure to station its fighters, weapons and command posts.

On Friday, the war ended in its eighth month. Gaza’s Health Ministry said that Israel’s campaign had claimed more than 36,730 lives. The figure does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The Israeli army claims it is complying with international law and blames Hamas for the civilian casualties. The militants operate among the population. The Geneva Convention states that civilians must not be deliberately or indiscriminately targeted and that military operations must be proportionate.

The Israeli military said Friday it had identified eight more militants among those killed in Thursday’s attack on the UN-run school in central Gaza, bringing the total number of suspected militants killed in the attack to 17. A day earlier, Israel said nine of them were militants. Israel released the names of the alleged militants, but the Associated Press could not confirm that claim. Israel said Thursday that about 30 militants were at the school.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, said about 6,000 people sought shelter in the school when it was hit.

International pressure on Israel to limit civilian bloodshed in the war against Hamas is growing. The UN’s highest court has concluded that there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza – an accusation that Israel firmly rejects.

Israel began the war after the October 7 Hamas attack, in which militants entered southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and abducting about 250. About 80 of the hostages captured on October 7 are believed to still be in the Gaza Strip, along with the remains of 43 others.

The war between Israel and Hamas has largely disrupted the supply of food, medicine and other aid to Palestinians. Palestinians are suffering from widespread hunger. According to UN agencies, over a million people in Gaza could experience peak levels of hunger by mid-July.