Harrowing cellphone video reveals the tiny silhouette of Ward Al-Sheikh Khalil trudging by way of rubble, her make-shift shelter engulfed in flames round her, after an Israeli strike hit the college the place she and her household had fled to flee the battle raging round them within the Gaza Strip.
Khalil, simply 5 years previous, survived. Her mom and 5 of her siblings didn’t make it out of the burning constructing.
When she returned to the scene of the assault, she discovered her sister’s deserted flip-flop and broke down sobbing.
“The fire filled the sky and the ground,” she mentioned. “I was asleep, but I came out from the fire. When I came out, I did not find my dad. They took me to the Baptist Hospital, and I saw dad on the way, in the ambulance. I saw him. He had many wounds on his face.”
Ward Al-Sheikh Khalil, 5, a Palestinian lady who survived an Israeli strike on the Fahmi al-Jarjawi Faculty in Gaza Metropolis the place she was sheltering along with her displaced household, is seen amid the ruins of the college the following day, held by her uncle, Might 26, 2025.
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The Israeli strike came about in the midst of the night time. The Israel Protection Forces mentioned the goal was a Hamas command and management heart inside the college constructing.
Rescuers within the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Territory mentioned the strike killed 33 individuals.
“The expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza targeting civilian infrastructure, among them a school that served as a shelter for displaced Palestinian families, killing civilians, including children, is abhorrent,” von der Leyen mentioned, in accordance with the EU. “The European Commission has always supported — and will continue to support — Israel’s right to security and self-defense. But this escalation and disproportionate use of force against civilians cannot be justified under humanitarian and international law.”
Palestinians comb the realm following an Israeli airstrike at daybreak on a faculty within the al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza Metropolis that killed greater than 30 individuals on Might 26, 2025.
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When he heard stories of a strike on the college, he instantly tried to make contact.
“Some pictures were released in the media. When I looked at them, I saw Ward with the Civil Defense. I immediately knew that it was my niece,” he mentioned. “When I came, I saw that the bodies of my brother’s family were all charred and torn to pieces. It took a while to locate the body of her (Ward’s) elder brother, Abed, so that we could bury them all together. It was a horrific scene.”
He apprehensive concerning the lasting influence of residing by way of such trauma on Gaza’s youngsters, together with his niece.
Ward al-Sheikh Jalil, who survived an Israeli assault on the Fahmi al-Jarjawi Faculty in Gaza Metropolis, is seen within the ruins of the constructing, the place she discovered slippers that belonged to her and her siblings, Might 26, 2025.
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Amid the bombings, Palestinians in Gaza additionally face a crucial wrestle to seek out meals, after a virtually three-monthlong Israeli blockade on all humanitarian items coming into the territory.
Beneath strain from its allies, together with the U.S., Israel started permitting some humanitarian items into Gaza final week, however support businesses say it’s not almost sufficient to fulfill the wants of the enclave’s roughly 2 million inhabitants.
The newly established U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Basis additionally mentioned it started distributing meals on Monday. The GHF mentioned Tuesday that it had distributed a complete of about 462,000 meals over two days of operation.
The United Nations and different support organizations have objected to the group’s strategies, calling it a distraction.
“Even when they bring aid, nothing reaches us,” Islam Abu Taemia mentioned whereas scavenging for meals along with her little one in Gaza this week. “We’re like stray dogs collecting food from trash. If we don’t, we starve.”
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