In an Israeli attack on a United Nations-affiliated school in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, it was reported for approximately 30 casualties, just as a planned truce between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel looms. The Abu Hussein School, run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), had been sheltering displaced Palestinians escaping violence and heavy bombardment in other parts of Gaza. The Gaza Ministry of Health initially reported 27 fatalities from the strike on Thursday.

Not only did Israeli forces target the UNRWA school, but they also launched fresh attacks on the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, focusing on the main entrance and power generators. The hospital in Beit Lahiya, housing over 200 patients, medical staff, and internally displaced individuals, had been under siege for a week. The Gaza Ministry of Health’s spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qudra, described the hospital as being under “intense bombardment,” with significant parts of the building being the specific targets.

Simultaneously, Israeli fighter jets struck the Sheikh Nasser neighborhood in Khan Younis, resulting in at least five fatalities and numerous injuries. Additionally, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported at least 10 deaths when Israeli forces attacked a residential home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northern Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces shot and killed 12-year-old Mohammed Ibrahim Fuad Edely, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed in the region since October 7 to 229, including 52 children.

Palestinian officials state that Israel’s relentless bombardments have claimed over 15,000 lives in Gaza since October 7, while the official death toll from Hamas’s attacks in Israel is approximately 1,200. Despite the escalating violence, a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar, is scheduled to commence at 7 am local time (05:00 GMT) on Friday. However, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant expressed skepticism, labeling the upcoming pause as a “brief respite,” predicting a resumption of intense fighting after the truce and hinting at at least another two months of conflict. Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari emphasised that the captive release outline was just the beginning, not the end of the process.