US-made bombs were used by Israel in “unlawful attacks” on schools which were sheltering displaced civilians in Gaza, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released Thursday.
HRW said Israel had carried out hundreds of strikes on schools since the start of its war on Gaza in October 2023, including “unlawfully indiscriminate attacks” using US munitions, which violated international law.
HRW: Unlawful Strikes on Civilian Shelters in Gaza Worsening Humanitarian Crisis
In its report, HRW investigated two incidents in 2024 in which it found that GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs supplied by the United States were used. One attack on the Khadija girls’ school in Deir el-Balah on July 27, 2024, killed at least 15 people, and another attack on the Zeitoun C school in Gaza City on September 21, 2024, left at least 34 dead.
Israeli authorities have not publicly shared information relating to the attacks. Israel has often said that its attacks on schools were targeting Hamas fighters. It has provided no evidence to indicate the presence of military targets at the sites of the attacks documented by the rights group.
In both attacks, HRW and that there was no evidence of a military presence at the schools on the days of the attacks.
The rights group also warned that recent Israeli attacks on schools sheltering displaced people were worsening the dire humanitarian situation in the territory.
HRW said that from July 1-10, 2025, Israeli forces struck at least 10 schools where displaced people were sheltering, killing 59 people and displacing dozens of families, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
HRW Says Attacks on Schools Which Shelters Civilians Are in Violation of International Law
The group emphasised that schools used to house civilians remain protected under international law unless used for military purposes.
The rights group called for an immediate halt to arms transfers to Israel, warning of potential complicity by governments providing military support.
According to the United Nations, nearly 1 million displaced Palestinians have taken shelter in Gaza’s schools since October 2023.
HRW said the repeated targeting of civilian infrastructure, including shelters, hospitals and schools, showed a pattern of attacks that may amount to war crimes.
HRW noted that nearly all of Gaza’s 564 schools have sustained damage, with 92 percent requiring full reconstruction or major repairs.
The UN has reported that at least 836 people sheltering in schools have been killed.
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