October 2024 Abu Hussein school attack

{{Infobox civilian attack

| title = October 2024 Abu Hussein school attack

| location = Jabalia refugee camp, Gaza Strip

| date = 17 October 2024

| partof = the second battle of Jabalia and the attacks on schools during the Gaza war and genocide

| image =

| caption =

| map = {{location map

| Israel gaza

| lat_deg = 31.528056

| lon_deg = 34.483056

| label = Abu Hussein school

| label_size = 100

| caption =

| border = none

| float = center

}}

| map_size =

| map_alt =

| map_caption =

| target = UNRWA-run Abu Hussein school

| type = Airstrike

| fatalities = 28+ Palestinians

| injuries = 160+ Palestinians

| perp = {{military|Israel}}

| motive =

}}

On 17 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bombed the UNRWA-run Abu Hussein primary school, which had been turned into a shelter for Palestinians displaced by the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. The airstrike killed at least 28 Palestinians and wounded 160 others.{{Cite web |title=Israeli strike on school sheltering displaced families in Jabalia kills 28 |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/17/israeli-strike-on-school-sheltering-displaced-families-in-jabalia-kills |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}

Background

On 5 October 2024, the IDF launched a new 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 the United Nations described as "a genocide within genocide".{{Cite web |title=Palestine's UN envoy says 'genocide within genocide' going on in north Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/13/palestines-un-envoy-says-genocide-within-genocide-going-on-in-north-gaza |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=2024-10-17 |title=Palestinian officials say an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in northern Gaza killed 15 |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/palestinian-officials-say-an-israeli-strike-on-a-school-turned-shelter-in-northern-gaza-killed-15/articleshow/114317902.cms?from=mdr |access-date=2024-10-17 |work=The Economic Times |issn=0013-0389}}

Airstrike

Israel struck the primary school on 17 October 2024, killing at least 28 and wounding more than 160, claiming that the strike targeted an "operational meeting point" for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants, without providing substantial evidence. Israel named 18 men who it accused of conducting rocket attacks and attacking IDF soldiers.{{Cite news |last=Fabian |first=Emanuel |date=23 October 2024 |title=IDF says at least 18 terror operatives killed in Oct. 17 strike on ex Gaza school |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-says-at-least-18-terror-operatives-killed-in-oct-17-strike-on-ex-gaza-school/ |archive-date=}} 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."{{Cite web |title=Israeli air strike on north Gaza school kills 22, medics say |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ced07pj0q6no |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=BBC |date=17 October 2024 |language=en-GB}} The director of Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit 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. He also stated that there was no water to extinguish the fire, and that the attack constitutes a massacre.{{Cite news |date=17 October 2024 |title=Palestinian officials describe 'massacre' after Israeli strike on Gaza shelter kills dozens |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/gaza-school-strike-1.7354567 |work=CBC}} Several tents caught fire, causing smoke to rise. A health ministry official stated, "Civilians and children are being killed, burned under fire".{{cite web |last1=Al-Mughrabi |first1=Nidal |title=At least 28 dead in Gaza strike, which Israel says targeted gunmen |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-fire-kills-11-gaza-city-its-forces-tighten-siege-north-2024-10-17/ |website=Reuters |access-date=21 October 2024}} At least 5 children were killed in the strike.{{Cite web |title=Hamas denies Israeli claims it used Jabalia school for fighting |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/hamas-denies-israeli-claims-it-used-jabalia-school-fighting |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=Middle East Eye |language=en}}