DayofPal– Many Palestinians in Gaza have sought refuge in Al-Maamounia Elementary School in the northern Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City since the onset of this genocide.
As hundreds of school-turned shelters have been in the crosschairs of Israeli deliberate attacks, significant damages have also inflicted on Al-Maamounia school in a way that worsens the tragedy for those displaced from northern Gaza due to the ongoing unprecedented Israeli bombardment.
Despite being an UNRWA facility, the school was targeted by a series of Israeli airstrikes, with at least four heavy bombs dropped on it as part of fire belts occured in the place during the first night of the war on October 7, 2023.
The aerial bombardment wreaked havoc on the school’s courtyards, leading to a disconnection between its buildings and leaving the northern section precariously tilted, teetering on the brink of collapse.
In the wake of a sudden ground incursion by Israeli forces into northern Gaza, which has persisted now for nine days, thousands of displaced families had no choice but to take refuge in Al-Maamounia Elementary.
They were compelled to stay in the northern building, now teetering on the edge of collapse, where classrooms have become makeshift refuges, hiding the anguish and despair of those escaping the brutality of war.
Displaced people in the school told “Palestine Online” that despite they anticipate a sudden collapse to the building due to ongoing airstrikes and bombardments, they stressed that they have no alternative shelter options.
Despite the heavy fire, many people have managed to flee the displacement centers in northern Gaza, narrowly escaping the complete siege imposed by the Israeli army, which has prevented thousands from reaching Gaza City.
Gazan man Ayman Nasser was among a handful people who managed to reach Al-Maamounia School but found no space for his wife and two children except for a classroom on the second floor of the damaged structure, which is at risk of imminent collapse.
He lamented, “I had no place for my family but this spot, as all the other shelters in Gaza City are overcrowded with displaced people.”
Ayman Nasser keeps a constant watch over his children, wary of the wide cracks between the building they occupy and the one across from it, fearing they might fall or get hurt.
The 37-year-old man has set up iron bars topped with wooden planks to create a makeshift path, trying to prevent any accidents as one building leans precariously due to the relentless bombardment.
Ayman, a resident of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, lost his home entirely to Israeli forces. For months, he lived in shelters in the Tal Al-Zaatar area. He reflects, “We fled from one kind of death, only to find ourselves facing another.”
Meanwhile, 49-year-old lady Aisha Nasser has barely managed to find a room to shelter herself and nine other family members in the same crumbling school. She recounts that her family searched multiple shelters, all of which were full, leaving them with nowhere else to turn.
Aisha urgently appealed to the relevant authorities, especially UNRWA, to provide an alternative shelter for those displaced from northern Gaza and to provide essential resources, particularly safe drinking water.
She stressed that finding a suitable alternative could safeguard the lives of those living in the at-risk section of the shelter, along with their innocent children.
“The shelter we are in has only deepened our tragedy and increased our suffering, lacking even the most basic necessities of life,” Aisha lamented.
The shelter management informed “Palestine Online” that UNRWA does not recognize Al-Maamounia Elementary School as a displacement center due to the risk of collapse in its northern section.
They further explained that UNRWA does not provide any relief services at this school, leaving the displaced reliant on food donations from charitable people and local organizations for their meals.
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