Israeli attacks kill 7 including 4 children in Gaza

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli attacks in the Palestinian territory on Thursday killed seven people, including four children, despite a ceasefire that has largely halted the fighting.

Four people including three children were killed when a drone struck a tent sheltering displaced people in southern Gaza, agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP, adding that a 11-year-old girl and an adult were killed in two separate attacks in Gaza.

The relentless Israeli war has destroyed the vast majority of Gaza’s educational infrastructure, forcing families to create makeshift “tent schools” in dangerous proximity to Israeli forces — an area demarcated by Israel as the “yellow zone” west of the separation line, often just a few metres away from danger.

“Until my daughter gets to school, I honestly walk with my heart in my hand,” Tulin’s mother told Al Jazeera correspondent Shady Shamieh.

“Many times, I find myself involuntarily following her until she reaches the school. I feel there is something [dangerous], but I want her to learn,” she added. “If not for this situation, she would be in second grade now. But we are determined.” The journey to the classroom is perilous. Walking through the rubble of Beit Lahiya, Tulin admits she is terrified of the open spaces. “When I go to school, I am afraid of the shooting,” Tulin said. “I can’t find a wall to hide behind so the shelling or stray bullets don’t hit us.” Inside the tents, protection is nonexistent. The canvas walls cannot stop bullets, yet the students sit on the ground, determined to learn.

Their teacher describes a harrowing daily routine where education is frequently interrupted by the crack of sniper fire.