At least 26 civilians were killed and many others were wounded by a declared Israeli airstrike on two UN-run schools, the Hassan Salama School and Al Nasr school on August 4th 2024. The two schools appear to have been targeted at the same time, and geographically are very close to each other. The Palestinian Chronicle, quoting the Gaza Civil Defense, reported that “80% of the dead and wounded are children.”

Israeli officials said the strike had “eliminated” Jaber Aziz, a high ranking commander in a Hamas battalion, who was believed responsible for much of the planning behind the October 7th attacks in Israel. Israeli forces noted that the strike “targeted terrorists operating within “Hassan Salame” and “Nasser” schools”. No other sources referenced the presence of Aziz in the schools or confirmed his death, and Hamas did not confirm his death.

Safa Press Service first reported the alleged airstrikes on the Hassan Salama School and the Al Nasr school in the Al Nasr neighbourhood, west of Gaza City. The article initially reported the deaths of six people as well as the injuries of many others. At 4:00PM on the same day, a tweet by account @mutaz_kawamleh announced that there had been 25 deaths as a result of the airstrike on the Hassan Salama School, while a post from Sahat News put the number of people killed at 27. The tweet included further video footage of people fleeing the destroyed building. Airwars was able to identify the names of 26 people who were killed in the airstrike based on testimonies posted to social media.

Israa Saleh posted to Facebook to share the news of the deaths of her family members Ahmed Ahmed Salim Salouha (Abu Youssef) and Nasser Abdul Hamid Ishaq Salouha in the alleged bombing of Hassan Salama School, sharing images of two young men as well as images of their bodies in burial shrouds.

Mohammed Aljesh posted to Facebook to announce the death of his cousin, Naji Jamal al-Jaish, in the airstrikes. In a tribute to his deceased family members, Aladgham Gehad posted to Facebook to mourn the deaths of his sister Moza Riyad al-Akhsham Muqdad, as well as Samar Nour Sabri Abu Ghaban, the pregnant wife of his friend. Aladgham grieved the loss of Moza’s young children, her daughter, Malak Nour Sabri Abu Ghaben, as well as her son, Muhammad Nour Abu Ghaben. The children, he wrote, were “beloved” and “spoiled.” Aladgham’s post included a video of rescue workers trying to remove the bodies of two people from the rubble, and then the funeral prayers and burial of the four bodies, which appear to be two small children and two adults. A Facebook post from Sahat News included a video of young girls who bought sweets with their own money and distributed them in honour of their friend Malak who was killed in the bombing of the schools.

On the same day, Yousef S O Mhanna announced the death of his dear friend and neighbour, Ibrahim Samour, sharing an image of a man smiling.

Salah Al-Tanani posted to Facebook to share the news of the death of his brother, Nasser Omar al-Tanani, honouring him by sharing that Nasser “was in a better place with the prophets, the righteous, and the martyrs” as well as members of their family who had died earlier, including Nasser and Saleh’s father and their other brother Ali, as well as their cousin, also named Ali. Salah also shared an image of a young man to accompany his post. Salah also included a picture of Nasser wearing a brown jacket.

Muhammad Abu Al-Baraa Zaqout posted a memorial to his “little daughter” Aisha Muhammad Zaqout who “was not more than 8 years old” when she was killed after they had been displaced to the Hassan Salama School, along with an image of a happy Aisha in a traditional Palestinian dress with her face painted.

Shadi Press listed the names of 23 people who were killed in the attack, including: Ibrahim al-Bayyaa, Ibrahim Abu Mani’, Muhammad Yusuf Abu Laila, Abeer Fathi al-Gharbawi, Jihad Ahmed Qazzar, and Ahmed Hossam Jad Allah.

Two children, Zain al-Din Khaled Abu Karash and his sister Tala Khaled Ziad Abu Karash, were killed, as were Adam Adham Bakr Zaghra, his sister Sarah Adham Bakr Zaghra, and Noura Khalil al-Akhsham (Muqdad).

Abdul Hadi Riyad al-Akhsham Muqdad, his wife Nismah Khalil al-Akhsham Muqdad, were killed along with their children, sons Osama Abdul Hadi al-Akhsham Muqdad and Muhammad Abdul Hadi al-Akhsham Muqdad, and daughter Shaima Abdul Hadi al-Akhsham Muqdad.

A post by Shereen Tawfeik noted that Sheikh al-Allama Jihad Ahmed Qazzar, Ibrahim Al-Bayyaa, Nasser Salouha, Ahmed Salouha and Naji Al-Jaysh were members of the Egyptian Hands Relief Team who had been distributing food to children in the refugee camps. Shereen Tawfeik also included images of all five of the young men.

Abdul Karim Muqhad posted to Facebook to honour the memory of Abdul Hadi Riad Abdul Hadi Al-Akhsham Muqdad and his family. Abdul’s post referred to Abdul Hadi as a “steadfast fighter” and Nisma as a “steadfast wife” – it is unclear if the reference to “fighter” is meant to indicate his status as a militant, or whether it was a reference to internal hardships and living through conflict. At the time of publication as no further indication was found online that Abdul Hadi was a member of a militant group, he has been classified as a civilian unless further information comes to light.

Al Jazeera Net posted to Facebook to share a video of a burning building with many people scrambling in and outside it to help the many people injured, with the caption declaring that “dozens” of people had died in the airstrike. The caption also declared that most of the deceased were women and children.

Many people posted video footage of the destroyed building, including Ruba Khader, who shared a video of civilians and emergency services can be seen pulling severely injured and deceased people from the rubble of a building. Graphic photos shared by Facebook user Sally Thabit show two deceased men lying in the bed of a truck. They are covered in blood, their clothing was shredded in the strike.

The Israeli military claimed responsibility for the strike the following day, sharing a post on Twitter/X that claimed “the strike targeted terrorists operating within ‘Hassan Salame’ and ‘Nasser” schools.’

Specifically, the IDF said that they had “eliminated” Jaber Aziz, Commander of Hamas’ Al-Furqan Battalion, who was believed responsible for much of the planning behind the October 7th attacks. Israeli news outlet Newsrael reported that “Aziz took part in the raid on the surrounding settlements on October 7.” Twitter/X user @Elshad1975, translating a post from the Israeli Air Force, wrote that “a number of other terrorists were killed.”

There was no corroborating information as to the presence of militants in the strike, with Israeli officials remaining the only source as to militant fatalities. Airwars has accounted for the number of belligerents as at most one to account for ambiguity around militant deaths, with a minimum of zero.

Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which include national ID numbers. Airwars is matching individuals to the first list where their name appeared. In regard to this incident, names are matched to the seventh and eighth ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ lists.