Israeli forces struck the crowded area of Gaza that they designated a “safe zone” for the second time in two days on Wednesday, striking a school that was specifically marked as a humanitarian safe area in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
The strike on the UN-run al-Jaouni school killed at least 18 people and injured at least 18 more, according to initial reports by Palestinian officials. The school serves as a shelter for 12,000 Palestinians.
Six UN employees were killed in the strike, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), making it the single deadliest strike for the agency since the genocide began.
According to UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, the school was deconflicted, meaning that the UN had arranged for it to be off-limits from Israeli attacks, potentially because it was being used for humanitarian operations or shelter for aid workers.
This means that, according to Israel’s own designations, the school had two layers of protection — being deconflicted and being in the safe zone — but was subject to an Israeli attack nonetheless, showing Israel’s continued disregard for even its own stated rules of engagement, much less the ones set up by international law.
The strike caused a “tremendous size of destruction” to the school-turned-evacuation center, Al Jazeera reports. Since the beginning of August, Israel has struck schools at least 17 times across Gaza. According to UNRWA, this is the fifth time al-Jaouni has been hit by Israeli forces.
The ever-shrinking “safe” zone encompasses only about 11 percent of Gaza’s land area, now housing at least 1.7 million Palestinians who have been forced out of their homes by Israel in the past 11 months. The area is extremely crowded, with very little room for movement and disease spreading quickly through the cramped quarters.
It was this dense area that Israel bombed early in the morning on Tuesday, killing at least 19 Palestinians taking shelter in a tent camp in the desert area of al-Mawasi. The attack, carried out using multiple 2,000 pound bombs fitted with U.S. equipment, wounded many, with many others likely buried in the sand or simply unable to be tallied because the blast tore their bodies to pieces.
The attack left gigantic craters in the ground, going as deep as 15 meters, or 49 feet, according to Al Jazeera.
Humanitarian groups said that the attack, likely a war crime, is a show that the “safe” zone in Gaza is anything but safe. Indeed, Israel has struck the “safe” zone at least a dozen times since it was first designated by Israeli forces in May.
The al-Jaouni school, meanwhile, is Israel’s latest attack on humanitarian workers. Israeli forces have killed 214 UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) workers since their genocide started, not including the workers potentially killed in Wednesday’s strike.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $150,000 in one-time donations and to add 1,500 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy