We can't take it any more, Gazans sheltering in UN schools say

At least 50 people were killed in Israeli air strikes on four schools where thousands of civilians were seeking refuge

Residents evacuate Gaza city. Many who have done so have sought shelter in schools. EPA

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“We are scared,” Maryam Abu Awad told The National after an Israeli air strike hit a UN school in which she was sheltering.

Nearly 50 people were killed after Israel struck four schools belonging to UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA across the Gaza Strip late on Thursday.

“Enough God, we can't take it any more,” Ms Abu Awad, 32, pleaded.

The mother of three was sleeping in the UNRWA-run school when the building was bombarded with hundreds of Gazans inside.

“I saw dismembered bodies of those who have been killed and blood everywhere … I couldn’t find my kids because of all the dust,” she told The National.

“I lost my voice screaming, looking everywhere to find them. Thank God we survived,” she added, thankful that she eventually found her children.

Mrs Abu Awad was in a school in the Shatea camp when the Israeli army struck.

Two UN schools were also targeted in the Bureij camp and one in Jabalia camp in the north of the Gaza Strip.

UNRWA said the schools attacked had between them held up to 20,000 displaced people and had suffered severe damage.

Gaza's civil defence authority said at least 15 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Bureij on Thursday.

The Health Ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Thursday said at least 27 people were killed in the Israeli strike near a UN-run school in the Jabalia refugee camp.

“The bodies of 27 martyrs were recovered and a large number of wounded,” ministry spokesman Ashraf Al Qudra said.

Mohammed Mousa, 27, a resident of Jabalia, told The National at least 20 homes had been destroyed by Israeli shelling on Thursday

“At least 800-1,000 people lived there,” he said. “This strike has had serious repercussions.”

The attacks have left everyone anxious and living in fear, he added.

“This massacre really affected the mood of every home here, as everyone has lost someone, it has really destroyed people's confidence and any semblance of optimism,” he said.

Mr Mousa said no one had left the area because “most of us have no choice, nothing is safe any more, moving from one place to the next is impossible”.

UN officials have said a humanitarian ceasefire is vital to prevent more suffering of civilians.

“How many more? How much more grief and suffering? A humanitarian ceasefire is overdue for the sake of humanity,” UNRWA commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement.

Gen Lazzarini said the agency has lost 72 of its employees since the war in Gaza began on October 7.

“Overnight, we lost Mai, a bright software developer in her mid-20s,” he said, adding she had been displaced from her home and killed in the Jabalia refugee camp along with members of her family.

Meanwhile, residents of Shatea camp have been given a final warning by Israel to leave the area.

Leaflets have been dropped asking residents to leave or they will be bombed.

Small groups of people are holding white flags while moving south, however, the majority have decided to stay in the north.

Khadra Abu Hamed, 39, a mother of two, is among a group of 30 displaced people in the north of Gaza who are refusing to leave.

She went to a UN school in the camp for shelter but due to overcrowding and lack of water and food she returned home.

“Schools are overcrowded and there is no room for more people to enter, we have no other choice but to go home,” Ms Abu Hamed told The National.

Allam Ayman, 29, a father of one and who lives with his parents, told The National that no place is safe in Gaza.

“Danger is everywhere at least when I'm at home in my area I can feel safe,” he said.

Like many other Gazans, Mr Ayman said he'd rather “die in dignity” than out on the streets.