Exclusive: More schools identified as targets after controls on IDF action against Hamas operatives at civilian sites loosened


Palestinians mourn after an Israeli airstrike on Fahmi al-Jarjawi school, which killed at least 54 people, local officials said. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

A series of recent deadly airstrikes on school buildings sheltering displaced people in Gaza were part of a deliberate Israeli military bombing strategy, with further schools identified as targets, the Guardian has learned.

At least six school buildings have been struck, reportedly killing more than 120 people, in recent months as part of a targeting effort by the Israeli military.

This followed a loosening of controls on actions targeting Hamas operatives at sites with large numbers of civilians present, according to sources familiar with the strategy.

On Monday, four people were reportedly killed in the latest Israeli airstrike on a school turned shelter, in Deir al-Balah in the centre of Gaza. Videos on social media appeared to show the aftermath of what was said to be the location of al-Aishiya school.

Announcing the strike, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, without providing evidence or naming the school, it had bombed a site “used by terrorists” in the area, claiming it had taken steps to reduce civilian harm.

Al-Aishiya school was among a series of school buildings used as shelters identified by the IDF as targets in recent weeks, according to military sources.

Four further school buildings have been marked as potential targets to be bombed, according to the sources.

The locations identified as potential targets include four schools: Halawa, al-Rafaa’i, Nusiba and Halima Sa’dia. All four are in or near Jabaliya in the north of Gaza.

It was not immediately clear whether these buildings were also being used as shelters. Two of the schools appear to have been damaged by airstrikes at earlier stages in the offensive.

According to latest UN assessments, 95% of Gaza’s schools have sustained some level of damage to their buildings. Approximately 400 schools were classified as having suffered a “direct hit”.

On 25 May, an Israeli strike killed at least 54 people sleeping at the Fahmi al-Jarjawi school, according to local officials, who told the BBC that severely burnt bodies, including those of children, were recovered from classrooms that had been set ablaze.

The IDF claimed it had “struck key terrorists who were operating within a Hamas and Islamic Jihad command and control centre embedded in an area that previously served” as the school.

Over the past two months, school buildings, hospitals and municipal buildings have been categorised by the IDF as “heavy centres”, which it believes are being used by Hamas militants alongside civilians, according to three military sources.

The sources said airstrikes had been authorised against such sites in circumstances in which only low-ranking militants were present despite knowing that civilians could be killed.

Juliette Touma, the director of communications at Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, said schools “must always be protected and must never be hit or used for military or fighting purposes”.

“Very sadly, schools have been struck over and over for the past 20 months. It’s a grave violation of international law and of children’s rights,” she said.

Asked about its planned operations against school buildings, a spokesperson said the IDF “operates exclusively on the grounds of military necessity and in strict accordance with international law”.

The spokesperson claimed that Hamas unlawfully “exploits schools” for military activities by “building military networks beneath and within schools … launching attacks towards IDF forces from them, and imprisoning hostages in them”.