On 13 December 2023, the bodies of fifteen Palestinians were discovered at the Shadia Abu Ghazala School, west of

Jabalia refugee camp Jabalia Camp ( ar, مخيّم جباليا) is a Palestinian refugee camp located north of Jabalia in the Gaza Strip. History The Jabalia refugee camp is in the North Gaza Governorate, Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of ...

Al-Faluja al-Faluja ( ar, الفالوجة) was a Palestinian Arab village in the British Mandate for Palestine, located 30 kilometers northeast of Gaza City. The village and the neighbouring village of Iraq al-Manshiyya formed part of the Faluja pocket, w ...

, Gaza Strip. The school had been used as a shelter and had been surrounded by the Israeli military for several days. Images released several days after showed damage to the school's interior.

Witnesses

Eyewitnesses reported the victims had been shot and killed point-blank by Israeli soldiers. A woman stated, "They took all men, then entered classrooms and opened fire on a woman and all the children with her." A grandfather of some of the victims stated that IDF soldiers had entered the school and began shooting indiscriminately, stating, "They are my children and grandchildren. Why did they shoot them in front of my eyes?" The brother of one of the victims stated that when he returned to the scene, he found the bodies of his family shot at point-blank range, "swollen and filled with worms".

Reactions

The

Euro-Med Monitor Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (commonly known as Euro-Med Monitor and sometimes as Euro-Med HRM) is an independent, nonprofit organization for the protection of human rights. Its main objective is to raise awareness about human rights ...

stated the victims were subjected to "field executions" while being questioned. The

Council on American-Islamic Relations A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

called on the Biden administration to respond to reports of the massacre.

References

December 2023 crimes in Asia Israeli massacres of Palestinians 2023 massacres of the Israel–Hamas war Massacres in the Gaza Strip Massacres committed by Israel School massacres in the State of Palestine {{Massacre-stub 21st-century mass murder in the State of Palestine Child_murder_in_the_State_of_Palestine Attacks on buildings and structures in 2023 Attacks on schools in the Gaza Strip School shootings in Asia