In a file photo, Palestinians react following a strike at a UN-run school sheltering displaced people in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, on November 4, 2023 [File Anas al-Shareef/Reuters]

Gaza City, November 18 (RHC)-- Israeli air raids have killed dozens people at the al-Fakhoora School, run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.   At least 50 people have been killed in the bombing, the Palestinian ministry of health official said on Saturday.

The strike on the UNRWA-run school happened at dawn, the official told AFP news agency.  Many hundreds of people are believed to have taken shelter there.  “Dead bodies are everywhere and medial teams are trying to evacuate the wounded,” said Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abou Azzoum, reporting from Gaza.

He said with the ongoing fighting amid Israel’s ground offensive into northern Gaza, many Palestinians have been forced to flee to UN-run schools in the vicinity of the Indonesian Hospital for protection.

“People taking shelter at al-Fakhoura school in Jabalia refugee camp, many with medical issues, thought they could find shelter from the violence there.  But the Israeli army seems to be sending a message: Flee to the south of the Gaza Strip,” he said.

The Jabalia refugee camp has been a target for Israeli strikes for weeks, as it claims it houses Palestinian fighters.   The deadly bombing campaign of the camp has been ongoing despite condemnations by the UN and from regional governments.

The Israeli army has also repeatedly hit schools and UN-run facilities. Its war on Gaza has killed over 12,000 Palestinians so far, many of them children.