Hamas’s medical agency accused Israel of attacking a school at the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, killing 50 people.
The health authority of the Gaza Strip led by Hamas on November 18 accused Israel of attacking Al-Fakhura school, a United Nations-managed facility in the Jabaliya refugee camp, killing at least 50 people. The second attack hit a building in Jabaliya, killing 32 people in the same family, including 19 children.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said he saw “horrifying images and many people killed and injured” at the school. He said these attacks are unacceptable and should be stopped.
Lazzarini also confirmed that Al-Fakhura had been requisitioned as a refuge for thousands of Palestinians who lost their homes due to the fighting.
The Israeli army did not comment specifically on the alleged attack on the Jabaliya camp. An Israeli military spokesman said units were expanding operations in the Gaza Strip “targeting Hamas members and infrastructure.”
In early November, Hamas accused Israel of continuously attacking Jabaliya for three days, killing more than 200 people and injuring hundreds.
Hamas said that since Israel launched its operation into the Gaza Strip in response to the armed group’s raid on October 7, 12,000 people in the strip have died, including 5,000 children.
Jabaliya is the largest of eight refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, located north of Gaza City and near Israel’s Erez border crossing. The camp was formed in 1948 after Israel’s war of independence led to a wave of Palestinians leaving their homes for the Gaza Strip.
However, after more than half a century and many generations of living, the Jabaliya refugee camp later became an urban area with many high-rise buildings and civil infrastructure, with a population of about 100,000 people.
On the same day, November 18, international reporters in the Gaza Strip recorded hundreds of people leaving Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, waving white flags and walking south. Local health authorities said about 120 patients, 34 newborns and some medical staff remained at Al-Shifa hospital.
Hamas accused the Israeli army of ordering the entire evacuation of Al-Shifa hospital. Meanwhile, Tel Aviv affirmed that it did not force patients and doctors to evacuate but said this was a request from the hospital director and the Israeli army only to create conditions for those who want to evacuate.
The United Nations previously estimated that there were about 2,300 people in Al-Shifa Hospital, including patients, doctors and refugees.
Israel last week fought with Hamas outside the hospital and then sent forces inside to check. Israel says it discovered evidence of underground Hamas facilities. Meanwhile, Hamas has continuously denied using the hospital as a base for its members.
Hamas also accused Israel of attacking the southern Gaza Strip on November 18, killing 32 civilians, including an attack targeting an apartment building in the city of Khan Younis.
