Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images
People search through the rubble of a collapsed building after an Israeli attack on the UNRWA Al-Jaouni school in al-Nuseirat camp in central Gaza on July 6.
CNN
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An Israeli attack killed at least 16 Palestinians and wounded 50 others at the UNRWA Al-Jaouni school sheltering displaced people in al-Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, the Palestinian Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip said on Saturday.
CNN cannot independently verify the ministry’s figures.
A displaced man at the school told CNN that children were among the injured.
“There was a swing here, swings here, (children) were playing. What was their fault?” he asked, holding his little girl in his arms. “We barely found this place in the school, but even the school is not safe.”
CNN video shows several injured children arriving at a nearby hospital after the attack.
The Israeli military said in a statement Saturday that militants were operating in structures located in the school zone.
“This location served as a hiding place and operational infrastructure from which attacks against IDF (Israel Defense Forces) troops operating in the Gaza Strip were directed and executed,” the statement added.
CNN cannot independently verify the Israeli military’s claims.
UNRWA communications director Juliette Touma told CNN that UNRWA does not yet have all the information, adding that half of UNRWA facilities in Gaza have been affected since October 7.
“At least 500 people sheltering in these (UNRWA) facilities were killed, many of them women and children,” she added.
The news comes as progress appears to have been made in long-drawn-out hostage and truce negotiations. A senior Hamas official told CNN that the militant group is willing to reconsider its insistence that Israel commit to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza before signing a deal that would usher in a temporary truce and begin a process of freeing the hostages.
Amir Levy/Getty Images
Protesters clash with mounted police during a demonstration calling for a deal over the hostages and against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government on July 6, 2024 in Tel Aviv.
Near-weekly protests against the Israeli government continued Saturday, with thousands gathering in Tel Aviv’s Democracy Square to demand new elections and the release of hostages amid discontent over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of several issues, including the war in Gaza.
Israeli police said in a statement that two protesters were arrested during the Tel Aviv demonstration, citing public order violations and dangerous behavior, including “lighting bonfires on the road.”
Police said they deployed large forces to maintain security and order and dispersed the demonstration after protesters illegally gathered on Menachem Begin Road and attempted to block it, despite the demonstration’s initial approval.
Protesters waved Israeli flags and held placards criticizing Netanyahu, while police used water cannon to disperse demonstrators blocking traffic on the Ayalon Highway.
“After most of the protesters dispersed naturally and in view of the violations of order committed by a handful of protesters, the police had to declare an illegal demonstration,” the police said.
“During the dispersal of the rioters, the police arrested two suspects.”
Israeli police also warned that they would “act with zero tolerance towards those who disrupt order and will not listen to police instructions.”
Israel’s National Unity Party chairman and former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz was seen attending a rally calling for the return of the hostages.
The protests, often weekly, have yet to change the political landscape, and Netanyahu still controls a stable majority in parliament.
Additional reporting by Hamdi Alkhshali and Lauren Izso
This is a developing story and will be updated.
