Shortly before 9:49 AM on Monday, October 21, 2024, at least seven people were killed and at least seven people were injured in alleged artillery shelling by the Israeli military on the UNRWA-affiliated Krizim School, referred to by some as the Hafsa School. Three members of the Nawara family, Abd Mohammad Nawara and his two sons, Ayman Abd Nawara and Ahmad Abd Nawara were killed, as were two members of the Shahada family, Huyam Abd Al Karim al-Mujabir (Shahada) and her young son Atta Fadi Atta Shahada. Among those injured were Huyam’s young daughter, a second young girl, three women, and two men. The Krizim/Hafsa School was reportedly sheltering displaced people at the time of the alleged shelling, and is located opposite the Abu Rashid Pond in the Jabalia Refugee Camp in the northern Gaza Strip. The shelling reportedly occurred as the displaced civilians were preparing to leave the school towards Salah al-Din Street, per the Israeli military’s instructions.

A timeline of events

Looking chronologically, Journalist Ahmed Hijasee (@ahmedhijazee) was the first to report the incident on the social media platform Twitter/X at 9:49 AM. He wrote that there were “A large number of martyrs…as a result of targeting the displaced people in the UNRWA school opposite Abu Rashid Pool. He added that “the residents were preparing to leave the school towards Salah al-Din Street according to the occupation’s instructions, then the artillery targeted them with more than one shell.”

Journalist Anas al-Sharif, posting to Telegram, reported at 10:48 AM local time that the Israeli military was “besieging UNRWA schools that shelter displaced people around Abu Rashid Pool in Jabalia Camp.” Six minutes later, Anas posted “Amidst further siege of shelters and attempts to forcibly displace residents under threat of arms…Continuous Israeli artillery shelling targets the vicinity of UNRWA shelters around Abu Rashid Pool in Jabalia camp.”

Journalist Hossam Shabat (@HossamShabat) reported the incident on Twitter/X at 12:08 PM. At 12:46 PM local time, and Safa News reported that an unknown number of displaced people had been killed and wounded in artillery shelling. Safa reported that the civilians had been leaving shelters in Jabalia Camp and heading to the al-Jurn and Jabalia al-Balad areas in the northern Gaza Strip.

An hour later, at 1:47 PM, eyewitnesses told Safa that there “dozens’” were killed and injured in the streets of Jabalia camp as a result of the artillery shelling.

Posting to Twitter/X on October 21st at 3:13 PM, user @EzzLulu wrote that the “The Israeli occupation forces force the displaced people in the shelters in Jabalia camp to head towards the checkpoint (forced displacement), and anyone who tries to take a different route is exposed to bombing from drones and artillery.”

In a video shared to Youtube by Al-Araby News, a young man being treated at Kamal Adwan Hospital says that a military quadcopter came and told those sheltering at the school to gather their things and leave by 10 AM. He goes on to say that an artillery attack occurred at 10 AM and his brother and cousin’s son were both martyred.

An article, published by The Independent – Arabiya, sites an eyewitness account, which ultimately echoes the testimony shared by the young man at Kamal Adwan Hospital. The article details that an Israeli tank approached the gates of the Krizim School in the Jabalia Camp. Then, the soldier operating the tank turned it’s cannon toward the classrooms that “housed displaced people fleeing death, and using a loud speaker, he he began to inform those inside the educational facility that they were surrounded.” The article goes on to say that the soldier then got out of the tank, “launched a drone, and began to monitor and inspect the school. After that, he began to broadcast voice messages via the drone asking the civilians who were taking shelter in the school to prepare to evacuate.”

One individual cited in the article, Wafaa, relayed that the army “army imposed a siege on the [Krizim] school where Wafaa was taking shelter for an entire night, and during the hours of darkness, the planes launched violent raids around the school.” Wafaa added that, the next morning, “the soldiers ordered the civilians sheltering in the school to come down to the yard, separated the men from the women and children and ordered them to leave towards southern Gaza at gunpoint, threatening them that any violation of the instructions would mean the death of everyone.”

In two videos shared to the Quds Network Feed on Telegram on October 21st, six individuals: three men, two women, and one young boy all appear to have been killed. Seven injuries are also shown, including two young girls are also severely injured, as are three women and two men. A BBC article, published on October 24th, identified the person who filmed the video as paramedic Nevine al-Dawawi. The video filmed by Nevine shows those injured and killed lying bloody or lifeless inside the school’s perimeter.

The Nawara Family

At the time of writing, Airwars had identified three of those reportedly killed: three members of the Nawara family, Abd Mohammad Nawara and his two sons, Ayman Abd Nawara and Ahmad Abd Nawara.

Posting to Facebook, user Um Amir announced the death of her daughter’s husband, Ayman Abdul Nawara, as well as the death of Ayman’s father and brother. She prays for the three Nawara men asks God to give her daughter patience.

Ayman’s father-in-law, Eyed Khalef, also posted to Facebook to remember his son-in-law Ayman, as well as Ayman’s father Abd Mohammad and his brother Ahmad. Eyed included an image of Ayman, wearing a blue polo shirt, jeans, and smiling towards the camera. In the photo, he is holding a young boy’s hand, presumably one of Ayman’s sons. Eyed closed his post, writing “May God give our hearts patience for you.”

Abd Mohammad’s cousins, Fidaa Khaled and Wasim Khalaf, also posted to Facebook in honour of the three Nawara men. In separate but mirror posts, Fidaa and Wasim pray for the three men, as well as Ayman’s wife “Em Jood”.

The Shahada Family

Though the two videos mentioned shared by the Quds Network Feed on Telegram began circulating on October 21st, Huyam’s sister-in-law, Aya Weal, shared one of the videos to Facebook on October 22nd. Referring to the video, Aya identifies her young nephew, Anas, along with other family members. Referring to the video, Aya writes that Anas is filmed “crying out, ““My sister is dying! My mother is dying! Help us!”—but no one responded.” Aya goes on to write that Anas saw “his brother, Ata, die in front of him…after seeing his sister with her leg amputated, and after witnessing the rest of his family—his aunt, his uncle, his uncle’s wife, and their children—either lifeless or torn apart before his very eyes.”

Posting to Facebook, Aya Weal shared a picture of Anas’ brother Atta Fadi Atta Shahada. In the photo, he is smiling happily at the camera, dressed in colorful children’s clothing in what appears to be a family home. He looks to be less than 10 years old. “On this day,” Aya wrote, “we were shocked by the targeting of my family by Israeli occupation aircraft. This happened in Hafsa School in Jabalia camp. The targeting resulted in the martyrdom of my brother Fadi’s wife, the martyr by Allah’s will, ‘Enaam Abdul Karim Shahada’ and her son, the child martyr ‘Atta Fadi Atta Shahada’, and the injury of the rest of my family members, ranging from very serious to moderate injuries” (Enaam appears to have been a nickname used to refer to Huyam). Aya went on to write “I ask Allah Almighty to accept the martyrs, heal the wounded, and inspire my brother Fadi with patience and solace.” In the same post, Aya says that “the rest of [her] family members” were also injured, noting that the severity of their injuries ranged from “severe to moderate”.

Abdelkareem Ahmad, the father of Huyam Abdul Karim Shahada, also shared a message: “There is no power or strength except with God. My daughter and the joy of my heart, In’am, known as Hiyam Umm Anas Abu Shahada, was let down by everyone, so God chose her as a martyr, along with her son Atta, and the rest of the family was injured when Hafsa School was bombed. May God give us patience.”

Another photograph of Atta Fadi Atta Shahada, smiling and making a peace sign while wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh, was widely shared on social media by family members and loved ones. These posts were accompanied by messages emphasizing the tragedy of his death at such a young age.

The injured were taken to Kamal Adwan Hospital

The bodies of seven people killed in this incident arrived at Kamal Adwan Hospital, as well as an unknown number of injuries, according to medical sources who spoke to Wafa News Agency. Journalist Mutanna al-Najjar also confirmed the arrival of seven bodies at the hospital. Ezz Lulu, a medical student, wrote on X that the hospital had run out of shrouds that day.

On the same day, Gaza Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal, speaking to Shorouk News, reported that “most of the wounded who arrived at Kamal Adwan Hospital died because the crews were unable to provide adequate medical services due to a lack of supplies.”

This testimony was echoed by the young man who was being treated at Kamal Adwan Hospital and was interviewed by Al-Araby News. He says that those who were injured in the artillery attack were taken by donkey to Kamal Adwan Hospital, but died upon arrival.

Two schools

An article published by snd.ps on October 21st, says that “10 Palestinians were martyred and dozens were injured on Monday morning, as a result of targeting the displaced in two shelter schools in the northern Gaza Strip, which has been under siege for 17 days.” The “two shelter schools” seem to refer to the the Krizim School and Hafsa schools. The Hafsa school, also in the vicinity of Barakat Abu Rashi, housed displaced people and faced a similar event on October 20th. Airwars’ assessment of the Hafsa School incident can be found at ISPT201024l.

Images of the scene

Accompanying The Independent – Arabiya article, cited above, is a 32 second video, captioned “drone shows hundreds of displaced people in Jabalia.” The video, taken from above, glides over a long line of people standing in a road in daylight. They are surrounded on all sides by intense destruction. An Israeli tank, identified by an Israeli flag flying off the back, appears to monitor the line of people.

A post shared by Amira Dobia to Facebook appears to show the same scene depicted by the drone, but from the ground. In the image, men a crows of men are lined up. Some have bikes and others carry bags. All appear to be holding up their IDs. The behind the crowd of men is intense destruction, with gutted and grey multi-story buildings backdropping the photo.

Another image, shared by Anas al-Sharif shows a similar scene from the ground. In the image, a crowd of women and children are standing in perhaps the same road, also surrounded by grey and gutted multi-story buildings. The individuals in this image do not appear to be holding ID cards in the air.

This scene seems to reflect one shared by Shorouk News via an eyewitness account. Specifically, the eyewitness reported that artillery was fired by the Israeli military after a group of civilians had gathered to prepare and leave the UNRWA-affiliated school.

Three other images shared by Anas al-Sharif in the same post show civil defense members escorting an injured man and his family through the road. In two others, a civil defense member pulls an empty, orange stretcher along the ground.

A second image shared by Amira Dobia to Facebook appears to show a crowd of men, women, and children, standing near one of the school’s exits. Taken from outside the school, the image shows the crowd with their backs to the school. Similar to the other image, all appear to be holding up an ID card, with most of the man holding their ID card in one hand, and raising their other hand – empty – in the air.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military.

The incident occured at approximately 9:00 am local time.