At the crack of dawn on Thursday, Haitham Abu Ammar sifted through the remains of the school that had provided refuge for him and many other displaced Gazans. He spent hours assisting people in reassembling the bodies of their loved ones.
“The most excruciating experience I’ve ever had was picking up those pieces of flesh with my own hands,” shared Mr. Abu Ammar, a 27-year-old construction worker. “I never imagined I would have to endure such a task.”
Early that Thursday, Israeli airstrikes targeted the school complex, resulting in the deaths of dozens of individuals — including at least nine militants, as confirmed by the Israeli military.
Throughout the day, bodies and mutilated limbs retrieved from the debris were wrapped in blankets, loaded onto trucks, and transported to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, the only major medical facility still operational in central Gaza.
The Israeli military characterized the airstrike as meticulously planned. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari informed reporters that Israeli forces had monitored the militants in the school-turned-shelter for three days before taking action.
“The Israeli military and the Shin Bet devised a method to distinguish between the terrorists and those seeking refuge,” he stated.
However, reports from local and foreign medics, as well as a visit by The New York Times to the hospital on Thursday afternoon, revealed that civilians were also among the casualties.
Outside the hospital morgue, crowds gathered to mourn and pray for the deceased. Hospital corridors were filled with individuals pleading for assistance or even a moment of solace.
A young girl with a bloodied leg cried out, “Mama! Mama!”, while her weeping mother followed her through the hospital corridors.
Palestinians surveying the aftermath of the airstrike.Credit…Bashar Taleb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
The exact death toll could not be confirmed, but the Gaza Health Ministry reported that out of the approximately 40 individuals killed in the attack, 14 were children and nine were women. Later in the day, The Associated Press provided different figures, stating that at least 33 people perished, including three women and nine children, according to the hospital morgue.
Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital has become a symbol not only of the significant loss of life in central Gaza but also of the growing sense of desperation among Gazans striving to find a safe haven.
In recent weeks, the area has been inundated with individuals fleeing another Israeli offensive, this time in the southern city of Rafah. Prior to the commencement of that offensive, Rafah served as the primary refuge for civilians, housing over half of the Gaza Strip’s population at one point.
Then, on Wednesday, Israel declared the initiation of a new operation against Hamas militants in central Gaza — the very location where many Gazans who had escaped Rafah had sought shelter.
The strike on the school complex occurred early the following day, around 2 a.m. It targeted a building within a complex managed by UNRWA, the primary U.N. Palestinian aid agency in Gaza.
Since the onset of the Israeli offensive in Gaza in October, in response to a Hamas-led…
2024-06-07 11:44:33
Link from www.nytimes.com