Israel attacks UN school sheltering Palestinians in Gaza

On Tuesday, Israel’s tanks shelled the school belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in al-Maghazi, located in central Gaza, an official said on condition of anonymity.

The school had also come under fire on Monday.

"Yesterday we got reports that it was shelled and so today we sent our guys down to investigate and see which side the fire came from," the official said, adding, "They went down there with Israeli clearance, and while they were there, they came under Israeli shelling,"

There were holes blown through the walls of the school while its gates were blown off, said the UNRWA official.

UNRWA, which is sheltering more than 100,000 people at more than 60 of its schools in Gaza, submitted a formal letter regarding the attack to the Israeli regime after evacuating the school.

Meanwhile, Jens Laerke, spokesman of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said at a press conference in Geneva that tens of thousands of Gazan kids were in need of treatment for the trauma they have experienced.

"According to an assessment by aid workers on the ground, at least 107,000 children need psycho-social support for the trauma they are experiencing such as death, injury or loss of their homes," Laerke said, adding, "There is literally no safe place for civilians."

So far, around 630 people have been killed and over 3,700 others injured by the Israeli regime despite pressure from international community.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, has been launching retaliatory attacks against Israel.

Israeli warplanes have been carrying out incessant airstrikes against Gaza since July 8. Last Thursday, thousands of Israeli soldiers launched a ground invasion into the densely-populated strip.

HK