31°31′41.002″N34°28′59.002″E / 31.52805611°N 34.48305611°E /31.52805611; 34.48305611
| October 2024 Abu Hussein school attack | |
|---|---|
| Part of thesecond battle of Jabalia and theattacks on schools during theGaza war andgenocide | |
  Abu Hussein school | |
| Location | Jabalia refugee camp,Gaza Strip |
| Date | 17 October 2024 |
| Target | UNRWA-run Abu Hussein school |
Attack type | Airstrike |
| Deaths | 28+ Palestinians |
| Injured | 160+ Palestinians |
| Perpetrator |  Israel Defense Forces |
On 17 October 2024, theIsrael Defense Forces (IDF) bombed theUNRWA-run Abu Hussein primary school, which had been turned into a shelter forPalestinians displaced by theIsraeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, inJabalia refugee camp in the northernGaza Strip. The airstrike killed at least 28 Palestinians and wounded 160 others.[1] The IDF says that it targeted terrorists operating within the building.[2]
On 5 October 2024, the IDF launched anew ground offensive in Jabalia, aiming to eliminate what it said were Hamas militants regrouping there. Israel imposed a siege over the area and obstructed the entry of aid to Jabalia, which the Palestinian envoy to theUnited Nations described as "a genocide within genocide".[3][4]
Israel struck the primary school on 17 October 2024, killing at least 28 and wounding more than 160, saying that the targeted terrorists fromHamas andPalestinian Islamic Jihad groups who operated from within the school.[2] Israel named 18 men who it accused of conducting rocket attacks and attacking IDF soldiers.[5] The Israeli military claimed to have worked to mitigate civilian harm in the airstrike, including by using aerial surveillance and a precise munition.
Hamas strongly denied the claim that it had used the UNRWA school for fighting purposes, and called it "nothing but lies" and a "systematic policy of the enemy to justify its crime."[1][6] The director of Kamal Adwan hospital inBeit Lahia reported that the hospital was small and could not receive all of the Palestinians injured by the strike, adding that most of those presented were women and children.[6] He also stated that there was no water to extinguish the fire, and that the attack constitutes a massacre.[7] Several tents caught fire, causing smoke to rise.[1] A health ministry official stated, "Civilians and children are being killed, burned under fire".[8] At least 5 children were killed in the strike.[9]
