THE Israeli occupation army committed a horrific massacre against displaced Palestinian civilians on Tuesday evening after its warplanes bombed a school sheltering them in Deir al-Balah City in central Gaza.
Medical and media sources said that at least 20 civilians, including children, were martyred and dozens were injured in an Israeli aerial attack that targeted the Abu Hamisa School’s third floor and main courtyard, where dozens of displaced families were living.
Earlier, medical sources at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital reported receiving eight martyrs, including fragmented human remains, along with dozens of wounded individuals following the Israeli attack on the school. Meanwhile, nine martyrs, including children, were transported from the bombed shelter to Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza.
The Jabalia Al-Nazla Municipality warned on Tuesday of the growing accumulation of waste within its jurisdiction, with its teams unable to collect and dispose of it properly amid the ongoing dire situation in the Gaza Strip — raising fears of an imminent public health and environmental disaster. In a press statement, the municipality said: ‘Our teams are unable to collect and dispose of waste as required, due to the main landfill sites being located within areas now controlled by the Israeli army.’
It added that, as a result, crews are being forced to use temporary and random dumping sites, with the situation worsened by the destruction of more than 90% of the municipality’s vehicles and equipment due to repeated Israeli airstrikes on its facilities and garages, particularly the deliberate targeting on 22 April 2025.
The municipality explained that the mounting waste crisis now poses a major threat of a looming health and environmental catastrophe in Jabalia, particularly in light of the severe weakening of Gaza’s already fragile healthcare system as a result of the continued assault and the blockade preventing the entry of essential medical supplies.
The municipality called on all international and humanitarian organisations to urgently intervene, to pressure for an end to the Israeli aggression and to facilitate the entry of the necessary machinery and equipment, in order to avert the looming disaster and to ease the suffering of the residents of Jabalia and the Gaza Strip in general.
With the accelerating humanitarian collapse in the Gaza Strip, resulting from the Israeli war of extermination and suffocating siege, dangerous phenomena have emerged in recent days, represented by acts of looting and theft targeting public and private property, including relief warehouses. These practices, which are contrary to the ethics of the Palestinian people, have provoked angry reactions from Palestinian families, who have taken the initiative to issue unified statements of condemnation, affirming their categorical rejection of these actions and demanding the protection of the moral and social fabric in the Strip.
The Al-Madhoun family, through its Mukhtar (leader) Dr. Muhammad Al-Madhoun, affirmed in a statement followed by the Palestinian Information Centre that the authentic Palestinian families who have offered martyrs cannot embrace those he described as ‘traitors and agents’, stressing that those behind this chaos are tools for the occupation’s agendas.
He said: ‘We will not accept that people’s pain be exploited to spread chaos and sabotage the national fabric.’
For its part, the Al-Ghoul family condemned the acts of robbery and looting, describing them as ‘far removed from the morals and customs of our people’. The family’s statement, of which the Palestinian Information Centre obtained a copy, affirmed that ‘the need for food and drink does not justify stealing the property of others or relief organisations’, considering what is happening as being in harmony with the occupation’s policies aimed at destabilising internal stability.
In turn, the Zaqout family (Al-Majdaliya) in Gaza and the diaspora expressed its strong anger towards those it described as ‘outlaws against religion and customs,’ and indicated that some of those who participated in the looting were carrying expensive weapons, which negates any claim of need or hunger, and reveals attempts driven to sabotage society from within.
In the same context, the Abu Obeid family affirmed its rejection of what it described as a ‘flagrant attack on what remains of the dignity of this people’, noting that what happened cannot be justified by hunger, but rather, is criminal behaviour targeting society. It added that, in cooperation with other families, it was able to apprehend some of those involved and recover property stolen from international institutions.
In conclusion to their statements, the families called on the competent authorities and all members of society to bear their responsibilities in this critical stage, and appealed to the international community to intervene urgently to secure humanitarian aid and prevent further collapse.
The international trade unions must intervene NOW in this battle for survival by calling general strikes throughout the EU, the USA and in Britain. The workers of the world must intervene to give the Palestinian masses their full support and to defeat the US-UK imperialist powers who are seeking to destroy the Palestinian people!
