Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Shortly before 1:55 AM on October 17, 2024, one civilian was killed, a number of civilians were injured and one person was reported missing as a result of the alleged Israeli bombardment on the Khalifa bin Zayed School located in Sheikh Zayed neighborhood, east of Beit Lahia city, north of the Gaza Strip. The third floor of the school that was sheltering displaced people caught fire.
X/Twitter user @ZaidAlsalman6 reported about the alleged attack on the school marking the tweet as “urgent”. Safa News agency reported the incident at 2:37 AM, writing about one casualty and the fire that broke out at the school. User @Sa7atPlBreaking indicated one missing person.
Several social media posts and media outlets reported on the impact of an Israeli bombing on Khalifa School in Gaza, with accounts highlighting casualties, fires, and the destruction caused to a shelter for displaced individuals. Several Facebook pages, such as Al Qahera News and Al Hadath Palestine, corroborated reports on injuries, fires, and a person’s death caused by the bombing. Other users, including Hani Alshaer and Khadeja Al Sajdi, also highlighted the death caused by the bombing.
Various videos shared on Telegram and Twitter depicted the aftermath of the bombing of Khalifa School on October 17 and 18, 2024. They showed civil defence crews working to extinguish the large fire that broke out at the school. Posts from accounts like @qudsn on X/Twitter and Aboubakr Esseddik Boukhari on Facebook highlighted the firefighting efforts, while Al Jazeera’s video included testimonies from eyewitnesses detailing the devastation.
Another Al Jazeera video showed a boy and girl being rescued and carried away by the civil defense crews. The children had no visible injuries but were covered in white dust.
Sources diverged on the nature of the strike. While several posts, such as Al Qahera News, reported on Israeli “aircraft”, others, including Radi Alam and Safa News pointed to “shelling”. User @ZaidAlsalman6 alleged use of phosphorous, though this was not otherwise confirmed.
Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to Israeli forces.
The incident occured at approximately 1:00 am local time.
Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention Khalifa school (مدرسة خليفة) being struck in Beit Lahia (بيت لاهيا). Analysing audio-visual material from sources, we have narrowed the location down to the following exact coordinates: 31.537684, 34.511293.
Summary
Sources (32) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (15) [ collapse]
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Source: @RassdNewsN -
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Source: AlQahera News -
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Source: Wat Ne -
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Source: Alarabiya Palestine -
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Source: Al Hadath Palestine -
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Source: Sahbakt Rasd -
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