Shortly before 5:45 p.m. on Saturday, 6th July 2024, a declared Israeli airstrike hit the UNRWA-affiliated Al-Jaouni School sheltering thousands of displaced people in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in the middle of the Gaza Strip, killing at least 10 identified civilians, including four children, and injuring up to 75 civilians, most of them children and women. Israel stated the site struck “several terrorists,” but did not name any militants it claimed to have hit.

The Israeli military declared the strike on its Telegram channel, writing at 20:51 on July 6, 2024: “Earlier today, based on IDF and ISA intelligence, the IAF struck several terrorists operating in structures located in the area of UNRWA’s Al-Jaouni School in the central Gaza Strip. This location served as a hideout and operational infrastructure from which attacks against IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip were directed and carried out. Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken in order to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise aerial surveillance and additional intelligence.”

The strike itself occurred earlier, shortly before 5:45 p.m. At 5:45 p.m., Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) shared a video of people fleeing from a smoking building. The video showed a man with a face wound holding the hand of a small, injured girl. The caption confirmed that the building was the Al-Jaouni school in the central Gaza Strip. The Palestinian news agency Safa reported the incident at 6:00 p.m., writing about the killed and injured civilians, and at 6:20 it updated the information, noting that “martyrs and dozens of injuries arrived successively at Al-Awda and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospitals.”

Not long after the airstrike, user @tamerqdh tweeted that the initial death toll had been 14 people and noted that this would likely increase. Ahmed Abo Holy posted to Facebook to share his outrage at the bombing of the Al-Nuseirat Girls’ Preparatory School “Al-Jaouni”, affiliated with UNRWA. He shared that 16 people had been killed as a result of the airstrike on the school and that the number of ‘attacks on UNRWA headquarters’ had reached 189 facilities. Shehab Agency reported the incident at 7:12 PM, writing about 16 deaths and 50 injuries resulting from the attack.

Yaser Yousif posted to Facebook to share that 75 people had been wounded in the incident. The spokesman for the government media office of Al-Arabiya TV confirmed the death of 16 people and the injury of 75 others. According to Al-Arabiya, most of the injured were children and women.

According to the Palestinian News Agency, the school was bombed for the third time since October 7, 2023.

Social media posts helped Airwars to identify the names of the 15 civilians killed in the strike, among them six children.

A Facebook post by Walaa Walaa shared that 32-year-old Muhammed Marwan al-Amsi (Abu Marwan) was killed alongside his four-year-old nephew, Muhammed Ahmad al-Asmi, the son of Khadija, during the airstrike on the school. Another child from the same family, Muhammad Saed al-Amsi, was also reported as killed.

The death of Muhammed Marwan al-Amsi and his nephew Muhammed Ahmad Marwan al-Asmi was mourned in the post by his cousin Amro Othman al-Asmi, who lamented: “By God, it is still early, my beloved?” He added images of Muhammed, a young man in a black suit and white shirt speaking on the mobile phone, and a young Muhammed dressed in a yellow T-shirt and black shorts. Muhammed al-Asmi also grieved the loss of his “beloved brother and friend.” Mohammed Ismail Al Hour poured his feelings into his tribute: “Today I lost my whole world. Today I lost my best friend. From the farewell to his martyred friend: Muhammad Marwan al-Amsi.” Mohanned H. Abu Saif remembered the late Muhammed as the “owner of a beautiful smile”.

Also among the victims were 28-year-old Youssef Fawzy Ismail Mohsen and 52-year-old Muhammed Mahmoud Mohsen. 

Husam Mohsen wrote a tribute to Youssef and Mohamed Mohsen: “And never think that those who were killed in the cause of Allah are dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, and they are provided for. Join the family’s caravan of martyrs – Muhammed Mahmoud Mohsen, 45 years old, Abu Fadi, Youssef Fawzy Mohsen, 25 years old.” He added images of the two men. However, according to the seventh Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza, with which Muhammad’s name was matched, he was 52 years old. According to the sixth Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza, where the name of Youssef was found, he was 28 years old. Also, his profile on the website “Genocide in Gaza” shows that he was aged 28 instead of 25.

Abed Al Rahman Haitham Al Hour mourned the death of his young cousin, Youssef Fawzy Ismail Mohsen, offering condolences to his mother: “Umm Wael, may God give you patience, my aunt, mother of martyrs. By God and by God, we have seen nothing from you but patience and reward.”

The death of 43-year-old Yaqoub Majed (Omar) Shahin was mourned in many social media tributes. His cousin Abo Yamen wrote: “May Allah accept you, my dearest. My dear cousin, Yaqoub Majed Shahin, is in the care of the Most Gracious. May Allah have mercy on you and grant you the highest paradise.” Another cousin, Emad Bin Shahein, posted: “I offer my condolences to myself and the honorable Shaheen family for the martyrdom of my cousin, the martyr, God willing, Yaqoub Majed Shahin.”

A’elat Shahin – Al Qabeba also grieved over the death of his beloved uncle Yaqoub: “May God have mercy on him, he was one of the most active and courteous young men in the family and was loved by everyone, relatives and non-relatives. His martyrdom is a great shock to the family, but our consolation is that he passed away to the mercy of God by God’s choice to be a martyr, God willing.” Majed Shahin, the eldest son of the late Yaqoub, posted a touching tribute to him: “May God have mercy on you, my dear father, and make your abode in heaven. I pray for mercy from the Lord of the Worlds. God willing, we will meet with our Prophet Muhammad, all of us.” Husam Yousef remembered him as one who “will remain in our hearts, you who had a smile and a well-mannered, generous, brave man.” Many relatives shared images of the Yaqoub.

Genocide in Gaza’s profile of Yaqoub shows him as a middle-aged man with dark hair and a dark trimmed beard, wearing a white shirt. He is pictured outside with a mobile phone in his hands.

A seven-year-old boy named Ziad Tariq al-Durra was also among the victims of the incident.  Al Burij Tajma’na remembered a small boy, Ziad, in her post, sharing his image where he was dressed in a white T-shirt and a yellow jacket and writing “The moon of Al-Buraij, the beloved  / Ziad Tariq al-Durra. He was promoted at Al-Jaouni School. May God have mercy on him and grant him a place in His spacious heavens.”

On Facebook, Mohammed Mahmoud shared that the incident at the school caused “a large number of injuries”. In a later post on the same day, Mohammed shared that a boy, Anas Abdul Fattah al-Bahr, had also been killed during the airstrike. According to Shireen Monitor and the sixth Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza, Anas was 14 at the time of his death.

Medina FM LIVE reported that 34-year-old Muhammad Abd al-Khakim Muhammad Mansour was a fatality at the Nuseirat school. According to his profile on the Genocide in Gaza website, he was married.

Another victim of the strike, Maher (Hassan Mohammad) al-Helou (Abu Alaa), was remembered in the post by Mohammed Khewiter, who added his picture. He was an elderly man with a bald head and wrinkled forehead, dressed in a white shirt. According to the eighth MoH list, he was 58 years old at the time of his death.

Where possible, the names of the victims have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which include national ID numbers. Since October 26, 2023, the MoH has released a number of lists, along with an additional list of medical professionals, which was released on September 17, 2024. Airwars is matching individuals to the first list where their name appeared. In regard to this incident, names are matched to the sixth, seventh and eighth “Palestinian Ministry of Health Lists of Fatalities in Gaza”, which were released on September 9, 2024, October 23, 2024, and March 24, 2025, respectively.

Following the incident, a UNRWA media advisor shared that the school hit by the airstrike was one of the most crowded schools, sheltering 2000 displaced people. The advisor also shared that the Israeli military was informed of the coordinators of the schools that are being used as safe shelters.

A Twitter/X account @hkaberni shared a further video of the site of the incident, which demonstrated the destruction caused, blood stains on the ground, and an ambulance arriving to help the injured.

Facebook accounts “Hayat Washington” and Rachid Abbad shared some striking images showing the extent of destruction resulting from the airstrike – the schoolyard was full of debris and rubble and blood stains on the destroyed structures.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all the sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military. The Israeli military declared the strike but fell short of acknowledging the civilian harm resulting from it. Therefore, Airwars has graded the Strike Status of the incident as Declared, and Civilian Harm Status as Fair.