'There’s nothing left of them,' says witness to air strike on school

Middle East Eye correspondent Mohammed Hajjar spoke to witnesses after a strike on an Unrwa school in al-Nuseirat camp in central Gaza killed 23 people.

“These were civilians who were killed. These were children who were torn up in the strike, there’s nothing left of them,” one man yelled, as he showed MEE a white tarp on which body parts were being collected.

Elsewhere, Riyad Abu Shanab told MEE that people were in a state of shock as they watched rescue crews removing bodies from the site.

“Look around you. You can see body parts strewn around,” Abu Shanab said.

“I could have been one of the victims. I had just gone to the toilet to wash my hands when the strike hit, engulfing the area with fire. It was only a moment that separated me from death.

“This is an Unrwa school sheltering displaced people. They hit a school yesterday too. People are getting killed in front of us and we have nowhere to go.”

MEE spoke to Um Alaa Abu Daher, who was was sitting with her daughter and niece in a classroom on the ground floor when the missile hit nearby.

“Suddenly there was nothing but fire and smoke outside. However, this is not the first time we find ourselves in this situation,” Abu Daher said.

Her niece Maysara said the school the family had previously been sheltering in was also hit, wounding a number of her relatives. 

“Before this strike hit, I could hear the sound of children outside. After the strike, the sound disappeared,” Maysara said.