school

Amid scenes of chaos, wounded from the school were taken to the two small hospital facilities still open in Rafah. With no mortuary facilities available, families collected the bodies of the dead almost immediately. In the corridors of the Kuwaiti hospital, stunned casualties lay on beds or slumped in chairs.

Mohammed Abu Adwan, 15, described how he and his friend, Moaz Abu Rus had been sitting outside the school gates.

“It was just like normal. Some of the kids were buying sweets and that sort of thing. Suddenly there was an explosion. I was hit by shrapnel and they brought me here,” he said. His friend, also 15, was killed.

Fatih Firdbari, 30, was outside the school when the explosion occurred.

“I was just talking to my friend and leaning against hisarmy gave a first indication it was ending operations in parts of Gaza, informing residents of Beit Lahiya and Al-Atatra in the north that it was safe to return home.

Witnesses in the north confirmed seeing troops leaving the area as others were seen pulling out of villages east of Khan Yunis in the south as commentators suggested it was the start of a unilateral withdrawal.

Local people reported limited shelling overnight in the northern areas though most were reluctant to return to their homes following the breakdown of previous ceasefires.

The IDF has dropped leaflets in parts of Gaza telling local residents to “tell your hidden leaders the battle is over” and that “all members and leaders of Hamas and other terrorist movements are unsafe”.

Israel‘s actions have been disproportionate and