During the afternoon of December 3, 2024, an alleged Israeli airstrike hit the al-Zeitoun mixed school – an UNWRA affiliated facility – near the al-Shafi’i Mosque in the al-Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City. The school was being used to house displaced people at the time of the strike. Sources reported that up to seven people were killed with seven others being injured in the incident. According to Al Jazeera, the majority of those killed and injured were women and children. Among those killed were a young man named Jamal Maher al-Nadeem “Abu Kinan”; his 61-year-old mother Najwa Jamal al-Nadeem, Fahed Seyam and Mohammed Mousa. The wounded were taken to Al-Ahli Hospital following the strike.
Sharing outrage over the incident, Al e’almyia news shared a video with a caption stating, “A place that was a haven for children and displaced people has become a witness to a crime that shakes humanity. The screams of the victims and the echoes of the destruction tell the story of the never-ending tragedy.”
Other sources, such as Sky Palestine, shared images of citizens inspecting the damage to the school. One of the photographs shows a classroom scattered with debris, blankets, and rubble. Its former walls (painted in naïve style with depictions of flowers, balloons and a Tweety-bird-like character) pocked with shrapnel holes and covered in dust. Another image shows the epicentre of the explosion with a hole through the floor to the level below. The images also show citizens sorting through the rubble, journalists reporting on the damage, and others salvaging what they could from the destruction.
Following news of the incident, friends and family took to social media to mourn the loss of their loved ones. The Al-Fernaj Facebook Page offered their deepest condolences to the family of Jamal al-Nadeem (Abu Kinan) and prayed that “God would reward them greatly” as they asked for God to make the deceased “dwell in His spacious gardens.” Maha Mahmoud shared a heartfelt tribute to her brother-in-law, Jamal al-Nadeem, as well as other family members who had perished in previous incidents stating, “Our moons increased by one”. A photograph of Jamal, cross-legged on the ground, was included in the tribute. Najwa was remembered as a “Hajja,” indicating that she completed the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. Her son, Abo Hamza al-Nadeem, remembered her as “dear,” and his brother Jamal as the “beloved of [his] heart.”
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, Najawa Jamal al-Nadeem was matched to the eighth “Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza”, which was released on March 24, 2025.
According to this list and the data of Shireen Monitor, the organization which has a list of “martyrs” of Israeli forces from 2023 onwards, Mohammed Mousa may be 21-year-old Mohammed Moussa Faraj Nabhan, who was killed on December 3, 2024.
Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to Israeli forces.