# 2024 Al-Tabin school massacre

On 10 August 2024, Israeli rockets struck the Al-Tabin school located in the Daraj neighborhood in eastern Gaza City. The attack killed at least 100 Palestinians and caused "dozens" of injuries, with several victims being trapped in the school as the fire spread.

## Background

The attack happened amidst negotiations for the Three phase ceasefire proposal between Israel and Palestinian factions. It was the fifth attack on a school in a week and the UN Human Rights Office said it was "horrified by the unfolding pattern" of attacks on schools.

## Attack

During Fajr morning prayers in the Al-Tabin school, which was being used to house roughly 6,000 refugees and internally displaced Palestinian citizens, three rockets struck the building, causing the structure to collapse. The number of Palestinians in the school was higher during the attack due to it occurring during Fajr prayer, with eyewitnesses claiming that roughly 250 people were inside the prayer hall at the time of the strikes.
Due to the impact of the rockets, a fire started that caused several more casualties from victims who survived the initial blast but were trapped in the rubble and debris. Children, women, and elderly civilians were reported to be among the victims of the disaster. Rescue workers who arrived at the scene and attempted to put out the blaze were unable to free several of those trapped under the wreckage before they were overcome by the spreading smoke and fire, which reportedly included whole families. Attempts by rescue workers and other civilians to reduce the spread of the fire and save the lives of trapped civilians were seriously impeded due to the Israeli military cutting off the region's water supply.
Casualties received at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital received shrapnel injuries from the explosives that caused profuse bleeding, while other survivors suffered from severe burns caused by the fire following the initial explosions. Due to the sudden influx of casualties in addition to the lack of staff and medical supplies, healthcare workers at the hospital were unable to provide necessary aid while the hospital system was pushed to the "brink of collapse" according to Al Jazeera journalist Hani Mahmoud. Healthcare workers were forced to recycle medical supplies due to severe shortages. Many bodies were also brought to the hospital for identification, with several being difficult to identify due to their remains being brought in in small pieces.

## Response
#### Palestinian response

The Gaza Government's media office called the attacks a "massacre" that fell "within the framework of the crime of genocide and ethnic cleansing against our Palestinian people." It further accused the Israeli army of directly bombing a location holding displaced people while performing Fajr prayer in order to increase the number of civilians killed at once. The office claimed that the three explosives used in the attacks each bore 2,000 pound (907 kg) payloads. It called upon the international community and any organizations to put further pressure on Israel to stop their occupation. The office asserted that in addition to Israel, it held "the American administration fully responsible for this massacre."
Fatah called the attack a “heinous bloody massacre” that represented “peak of terrorism and criminality”, and asserted that the brutal nature of the strikes confirmed the genocidal nature of Israel's invasion of Gaza. It called on human rights organizations and the international community to stop the war immediately and prevent Israel from conducting further attacks.
Hamas denied that the school was being used as a command and control center and described the attack as a "horrific crime and a dangerous escalation" in Israel's "war of extermination against the Palestinian people".

#### Israeli response

The Israeli Defense Forces confirmed reports that its Air Force targeted the school. They claimed that the school "contained 20 Hamas and PIJ terrorists" and was being used as a "Hamas headquarters" based on intelligence from the IDF, the Southern Command, and the Shin Bet. The IDF claimed that they had taken "many steps" to lower the likelihood of harm to civilians such as using precision weapons, intelligence, and "contractual measures". They asserted that Hamas deliberately set up one of their military headquarters in the school in order to use civilians as "a human shield for terrorist activity", accusing Hamas of "systematically violat[ing] international law".

#### International responses

Egypt: Egypt's Foreign Ministry stated that Israel's willingness to knowingly kill unarmed civilians showed that it did not have any political intention or motivation to push towards a ceasefire for the war.
United Nations: A UNICEF spokesperson told the BBC that the attack was "really outrageous", and said that "All those schools are really packed with civilians, children, mothers and families, who are taking refuge in any empty space whether it's a school or it's a mosque, whatever it is, even in hospital yards."