Gaza: Education Ministry refutes Israel’s claims about resistance fighters using schools 

The Palestinian Education Ministry in Gaza has refuted Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee’s claims that schools were used by resistance fights to launch rockets during Israeli offensives on the besieged enclave, Maan News Agency reported on Friday.

In a statement, the ministry indicated that Adraee: “Is publishing a series of lies about the civil facilities in the Gaza Strip to justify targeting them by the Israeli occupation forces.”

The ministry said that Adraee mentioned the names of several schools targeted by Israeli jets in 2021 when the Israeli occupation launched a fierce ten-day offensive on Gaza, during which it killed more than 160 Palestinians and wounded hundreds of others.

According to the statement, Adraee mentioned a case where the headmaster of a Gaza school facilitated the use of the school by the resistance fighters.

“To prove Adraee’s lies, the headmaster, who was mentioned by him, was chosen to lead this school one year after it was attacked by the Israeli occupation,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the ministry reminded Adraee and the Israeli occupation of the massacres that the Israeli occupation army committed against the Palestinian civilians who took refuge in schools during the Israeli offensive on Gaza in 2008/9.

One of the infamous massacres was committed at Al-Fakhoora School, run by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRWA), in 2009.

It also said that the Israeli occupation bombed seven schools in 2014 and three schools in May 2021, causing partial damage to tens of schools during the repeated offensives from 2008/9 until today.

The Education Ministry stated that the Israeli occupation does not need pretexts to attack any Palestinian facility as it has been known for violating all international laws and agreements because of the international community’s impunity.

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