Al-Awda School massacre

Al-Awda School massacre

Date	July 9, 2024 (2024-07-09)
Location	Abasan al-Kabira, Khan Yunis Governorate
Coordinates	31°20′2″N 34°20′18″E
Cause	IDF airstrike
Perpetrator	Israeli Defense Forces
Deaths	29+
Non-fatal injuries	53+

The al-Awda School massacre was an Israeli attack on a UNRWA-ran Palestinian school in Abasan al-Kabira near the city of Khan Yunis that was converted into a displacement shelter, occurring on 9 July 2024. At least 29 Palestinians were killed in the attack, most of whom were women and children. Many of the victims were refugees from Rafah following Israel's Rafah offensive. The attack was the fourth attack on a Palestinian school conducted by the IDF over the prior four days.

Background

On 6 July, UNRWA-ran al-Jawni school sheltering 2,000 refugees at the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza was targeted by an IDF raid which killed sixteen Palestinians. On 7 July, the IDF targeted the Latin Patriarchate-owned Holy Family school located in Gaza City housing hundreds of refugees, killing four. On 8 July, IDF force struck a different Nuseirat UNRWA-run school in, causing several injuries requiring treatment in a local hospital.

Airstrike

During the evening of 9 July 2024, Israeli Defense Forces conducted an airstrike that targeted a gate at the entrance of al-Awda School in Abasan al-Kabira, Khan Yunis Governorate. At least 19 deceased Palestinians from the airstrike were brought to nearby Nasser Hospital, in addition to 53 injured Palestinians. Workers at the hospital expected the number of dead to increase.

Reactions

Hamas condemned the massacre and said in a statement: “The bombing of the school is an Israeli insistence on the war of extermination, and confirmation of the occupation’s continuation of the crimes of murder, without regard to the consequences of its crimes or the laws and treaties that were established to protect civilians in wars.” It further called upon “the Arab peoples and those it called the peoples of the free world to move in support of the Palestinian people, and it also called on the people of the West Bank to activate all tools of support to engage with Israel.” Hamas also called for “rage marches in all cities of the world to condemn the massacres and to demand an end to the ongoing war in the besieged Gaza strip".

The Israeli Ministry of Defense claimed that the attack used "precision weapons" to target an area near the school where a Hamas fighter who took part in the October 7 attacks on Israel. The ministry stated that it was investigating reports that Palestinian civilians were harmed in the attack.

European Union Chief of Foreign Policy Josep Borrell strongly condemned the attack, lamenting the cost of the war to innocent civilians while calling for an immediate ceasefire agreement to free the reminding hostages and provide sufficient humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

See also

• Al-Sardi school attack
• Shadia Abu Ghazala School massacre
• Al-Fakhoora school airstrikes
• Attacks on schools during the Israeli invasion of Gaza