Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images
People search through the rubble of a collapsed building after an Israeli attack on the UNRWA Al-Jaouni School in Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on July 6.
CNN
—
The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Saturday that at least 16 Palestinians were killed and 50 injured in an Israeli attack on the UNRWA Al-Jawni School, which provides shelter for displaced people in Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
CNN cannot independently verify the ministry figures.
A man who had taken refuge at the school told CNN that children were among the injured.
“There were swings here. There were swings and (children) were playing. What happened to them?,” he said, holding his young daughter. “We finally found this place at the school, but even the school is not safe.”
CNN video showed several injured children arriving at a nearby hospital after the attack.
The Israeli army said in a statement on Saturday that the militants were operating inside a building on the school grounds.
“The site served as a hiding place and operational base from which attacks against IDF forces operating in the Gaza Strip were directed and carried out,” the statement added.
CNN cannot independently verify the Israeli military’s claims.
UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma told CNN the agency did not yet have all the information, adding that half of the agency’s facilities in the Gaza Strip have come under attack since October 7.
“At least 500 people who had taken refuge in UNRWA facilities were killed, many of them women and children,” she added.
The news comes shortly after long-stalled hostage release and ceasefire talks began to show signs of progress. A senior Hamas official told CNN that the militant group is willing to reconsider its insistence that Israel commit to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza before signing an agreement that would bring about a temporary ceasefire and begin the process of releasing the hostages.
Amir Levy/Getty Images
Protesters clash with mounted police during a demonstration against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government calling for a hostage deal in Tel Aviv on July 6, 2024.
Meanwhile, near-weekly demonstrations against the Israeli government continued on Saturday, as thousands of people unhappy with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the Gaza war and other issues gathered in Tel Aviv’s Democracy Square to demand new elections and the release of hostages.
Israeli police said in a statement that they had arrested two protesters at a demonstration in Tel Aviv for violating public order and dangerous behaviour, including “lighting bonfires in the road”.
Police said they deployed heavy forces to maintain peace and order and dispersed the demonstration after protesters gathered illegally on Menachem Begin Street and tried to stop them, despite the protest having initially been approved.
Protesters waved Israeli flags and held up signs criticizing Prime Minister Netanyahu, and police used water cannons to disperse demonstrators who were blocking traffic on the Ayalon Highway.
“Given that the majority of the protesters dispersed naturally and a small number of protesters were disruptive, police were forced to declare it an unlawful demonstration,” police said.
“Police arrested two suspects while dispersing the mob.”
Israeli police also warned that they would “take zero-tolerance action against anyone who disrupts order or fails to follow police instructions.”
Benny Gantz, chairman of Israel’s National Unity Party and a former war cabinet minister, was seen taking part in a rally calling for the return of the hostages.
The weekly protests have yet to change the political situation, with Netanyahu still holding a stable majority in parliament.
Additional reporting by Hamdi Alkhshari and Lauren Izzo
This is a developing story and will be updated.
