At approximately 4:00 pm on Wednesday 11 September 2024, Israeli warplanes targeted Al-Nuseirat Prep School ‘A’ for Girls (Al-Jaouni) with several missiles. The school is located in the center of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza, and was used as a shelter by 700 displaced families (around 3,500 individuals). These families were using the classrooms as living and sleeping spaces, while some had set up tents inside the school courtyard due to overcrowding.

The bombing hit the school’s eastern building, which has three floors. One of the missiles penetrated all three floors, destroying the science lab—which was being used to store food supplies for the displaced families. At the time of the attack, six members of the school’s administrative staff, responsible for managing issues relating to the presence of displaced people at the school, were inside the lab having lunch.

The bombing caused severe damage to the building and killed 16 Palestinians, including four children and six UNRWA staff members; 25 others were injured, including several children and women. Following the attack, ambulances rushed to the site and transported the casualties to both Al-Awda Hospital in Al-Nuseirat refugee camp and Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

The six UNRWA staff members killed in the attack have been identified as Nayef Hamdi Al-Hattab, 58, director of the shelter; Yasser Ibrahim Abu Sharar, 39, deputy director; Hani Mahmoud Matar, 47, store manager; Iyad Yacoub Matar, 52, non-food items manager; Mohammed Adnan Abu Zayed, 43, responsible for fuel management, and Hossam Hassan Abu Hammad, 34, a staff member. The four children killed have been identified as Shadia Moumen Selmi, 13; Obeida Hamdi Ali, 6; Mohammad Ashraf Aqel, 10, and Ahmad Raed Tabasha, 8.

According to eyewitnesses, the bombing occurred while displaced people were inside the classrooms and tents, and shrapnel scattered over a wide area, causing a large number of casualties. It is also worth noting that this was the fifth time the school had been bombed in the ongoing genocide, resulting in the killing and injuring of several displaced people each time.

In his testimony to Al Mezan, Fadel Ali Rabea Al-Bordini, a 59-year-old displaced person from Al-Mughraqa, a town south of Gaza City, described the harrowing experience: "I was sitting having lunch with 17 members of my extended family in our tent in the schoolyard, just opposite the eastern building of the school, when there was a loud explosion. I sustained an injury to my left ear. I saw my daughters-in-law and grandchildren lying on the ground. The force of the blast had caused our tent to collapse. When I managed to get up and look around, the scene was overwhelming: people were sprawled on the ground, blood was streaming from their bodies, and scattered body parts were littered around the tent. In that terrifying moment, I lost consciousness. When I came to, I found myself in Al-Aqsa Hospital. I had to relive the trauma of the attack when my granddaughter, Sidra Fadel Al-Bordini, just six years old, had been injured [in a previous attack on the same school] and subsequently had her left leg amputated."

Another survivor, Raed Ahmed Abdelrahman Tabasha, 48, told Al Mezan: "At around 4:00 pm on Wednesday 11 September 2024, I was at Al-Nuseirat Prep School 'A' for Girls, preparing for a football match for the displaced children in the school. The schoolyard was filled with a large crowd, including my children, who were excited to watch the game. Suddenly, I heard two deafening explosions. Shrapnel scattered everywhere, and the scene quickly turned chaotic: the eastern building was heavily damaged, and there were injured people and scattered body parts all around. In the midst of the chaos, I rushed to find my children. My heart broke when I saw my son, Ahmad Raed Ahmed Tabasha, just eight years old, torn apart and lying under the rubble. I also saw five other victims who had been dismembered. Ambulances soon arrived and began transporting the bodies."