"Apocalyptic": 40 Killed in Israeli Airstrike on U.N. School Sheltering Displaced Palestinians in Gaza

An Israeli airstrike on a U.N. school in central Gaza has killed at least 40 people, including 14 children, according to local authorities. Nearly 80 Palestinians were also wounded in Thursday’s predawn strike that hit the al-Sardi School run by UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. The Israeli military says it was targeting militants operating in the school, but provided no evidence to back up its claims. UNRWA spokesperson Tamara Alrifai tells Democracy Now! the school had been sheltering about 6,000 displaced Palestinians, like many other UNRWA facilities since the start of the war in October. “International law is clear. International humanitarian law calls for the protection of civilians,” Alrifai says, who adds that the war has also resulted in the “highest toll ever” for U.N. agencies and workers. “More than 170 UNRWA buildings, most of them serving as shelters, have been hit since the beginning of the war, killing more than 450 people. … A ceasefire is what everyone in Gaza needs right now.”