At least 11 people were reportedly killed, including four children and three women, and dozens more injured when two alleged Israeli “suicide” drones struck Musa Bin Nusair School in the al-Daraj neighborhood of central Gaza City. The school was known to be sheltering displaced civilians.

Though an initial report, published by Safa News at 2:56 p.m., stated that eight people had been killed, as the situation unfolded, the reported death toll continued to climb. Social media user abd.sabbah initially reported that twelve individuals had been killed, including seven children, as well as men and women, among them a heavily pregnant woman. However, this figure was soon contested and revised upward. Shortly afterward, Al Jazeera Net cited figures from both the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the Civil Defense Agency, reporting that the number of fatalities had risen to forty-four. Al Jazeera continued in their report to note that Musa Bin Nusair School was affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and was not only functioning as an educational facility but also serving as a shelter for hundreds of displaced individuals.

Journalist Mohamed Awad later confirmed the identities of 11 victims from the attack. Among them were Talal Younis Abu Amsha (Abu Muhammad), a 50-year-old man, and his wife Faten Munir Abu Odeh, 48 years old. The couple’s children: Mahmoud Talal Abu Amsha (28 years old), Younis Talal Abu Amsha (25 years old), Mai Talal Abu Amsha (21 years old), and Mayar Talal Abu Amsha (16 years old), were also killed. In addition, Talal’s nephew, Tariq Rushdi Abu Amsha, a 32-year-old man, and Tariq’s three young daughters, Alma Tariq Abu Amsha (8 years old), Lama Tariq Abu Amsha (6 years old), and Masa Tariq Abu Amsha (4 years old), were among the dead. Tariq’s wife, Reem Nazir Ibrahim Abu Amsha, was also killed; she was 27 years old.

Tributes to the victims began circulating online. Facebook user Mohmad H. Barzaq posted a heartfelt message mourning his brother Mahmoud Abu Amsha, writing that their hearts were “pained” by his loss. The post was accompanied by a photo of Mahmoud smiling into the camera, dressed in a navy-blue suit and white shirt. Other users, including Hazem Ayman, shared their grief over the death of Tariq Abu Amsha (“Abu Malik”) and his family. Hazem shared two photos of Tariq: one showing him in a navy-blue puffer jacket, and another in a sandy-colored shirt, smiling under the sun. Similarly, Anas al-Basyouni Abu Firas posted a third image of Tariq in a blue-striped shirt, once again smiling into the camera. In addition, Al-Hawaneen Square published a series of photographs, believed to depict Mahmoud Abu Amsha, one standing next to an older man in a blue-striped suit, and another in a red t-shirt, both capturing him smiling.

In its extended coverage, Al Jazeera Net reported that al-Ahli Arab Hospital was the primary reception point for the casualties, both deceased and wounded. Mourners were seen lining the corridors in shock, with some women “wailing as they bid farewell to their loved ones.” The report also described survivors amid the fire-damaged remains of the school. One woman was seen standing amidst the burning rubble of a classroom, while children searched through debris for their belongings.

Images and videos circulated widely on social media. One shared by AJA_Palestine on Twitter/X showed children and young adults walking through the wreckage of  burned clothes, shoes, kitchen supplies. Other users, including user 7w, quoted a Gazan paramedic who described the aftermath as “a scene from a horror movie.”

In an Al Jazeera video republished by @ly_hd32988 a female witness recounts what happened: “We woke up from sleep and found ourselves in flames/on fire. Us and our children in fire. We’re treated as if we’re not civilians. We don’t understand why. Until when? I ask until when. We don’t want war. those who want to lock us up, lock us up. right now, we don’t want war. we woke and found ourselves in flames. we’re civilians like you. I’m asking you, my children are burning. What did I do? I’ve never done anything in my life. Neither me, nor my children, nor my husband. You say you killed Hamas, but you didn’t kill Hamas. You killed us. We are not Hamas. We are not Jihad or anything. We are just civilians. We ate, we drank, we slept, and then suddenly we found ourselves in flames. Children — what role do children have in a war? What did our children do? There was no one except children.”

Another Facebook reel from Al Jazeera includes an interview with “A Gazan paramedic recounts his experience of trying to retrieve the dead and wounded from the rubble”: “the charred corpses of more than 10 martyrs arrived at the hospital. This was a passing news story that didn’t take more than five seconds to read, but the details of this event feel like a scene from a horror movie. Shortly before dawn, Civil Defense crews headed to the site of the attack on Musa bin Nusair School in the Al-Daraj neighborhood. Immediately, the crews began working to extinguish the massive fire that had consumed three classrooms housing a number of displaced families. Minutes later, the fire was under control and it was possible to enter the targeted classrooms. I was shocked to find bodies next to each other, suggesting that they had been sleeping. I immediately began to lift the first bodies when my hand burned. My hand burned. From the intense heat of the body. I told my colleague to pump water on the body to lower its temperature so we could retrieve it. All the bodies were charred. I lifted the body as if it were a single piece, like wood. I couldn’t distinguish between the males and females. There were three children, and people were telling me to put them in a death bag and fill it. But I couldn’t tell who their father or mother was. Just charred remains. We have experienced all kinds of death. Even those who die do not rest in their death. Not only were they targeted, but they were also burned. We have experienced all kinds of death before your eyes.”

As part of its verification process, Airwars cross-referenced the names of the identified victims with records from the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) casualty lists. In this instance, names were confirmed against Lists 9 and 10, released on June 23, 2025.

Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed this incident to Israeli forces.