Israeli forces besiege school in Gaza’s Beit Hanoun, shoot at sheltering Palestinians

Israeli forces besieged a school in Gaza’s Beit Hanoun where hundreds of forcibly displaced Palestinians were sheltering on Tuesday.

According to local media, Israeli forces entered the school on Monday evening at a time when communications and the Internet were cut off.

Israeli soldiers called on young men inside the school through loudspeakers to exit the school, before stripping them of their clothes.

Women and children in the school were told to leave and move south at gunpoint.

A voice recording posted by doctor Abdallah Mohammed, from Gaza’s Shujayya neighbourhood confirmed reports, with the sound of screaming children, wails and gunshots were heard.

رسالة صوتية مسجلة وصلت من داخل المدرسة المحاصرة شمال القطاع .. حالة من الرعب لا يمكن وصفها .. pic.twitter.com/nBh3idQ5Pb

— Dr. Abdallah Mohammed (@jjjjwza) April 15, 2024

Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat said that around 3,000 Palestinians were sheltering in the area and that many of the men were detained following the invasion of the school.

"A lot of people were taken to the courtyard of the school where they were interrogated, there is also heavy bombing in Beit Hanoun and heavy live fire," he said in a video recording.

Heavily armed Israeli army vehicles also surrounded the school, opening fire on people.

Palestinian journalists reported that many Palestinians were wounded in the attack, with the exact number yet to be identified.

Several Palestinians were also killed at dawn on Tuesday after Israeli forces bombed Jabalia, in north Gaza.

Israeli bombing targeted the Al-Fakhoura mosque, with medical sources saying a number of people were transported to the Kamal Adwan Hospital, the Wafa news agency reported.

The news agency added that the Israeli army continued firing heavy machine guns west of Beit Lahia and shelling many parts of the northern Gaza Strip.

Almost 33,800 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war on 7 October. An additional 76,000 have been wounded in the same time frame.

Israel’s bombing campaign has collapsed Gaza’s healthcare system, rendered much of the territory uninhabitable, and about half of the population is currently crammed at the southern end of the coastal strip in and around the city of Rafah.

Around 1.1 million people, or half the population, are starving, with Oxfam accusing Israel of deliberately blocking and undermining the humanitarian response in Gaza.