People in Gaza are facing harsh winter weather, amid ongoing Israeli attacks that leave more casualties, in violation of the fragile ceasefire which took effect last October.
At least five Palestinians were killed and several others injured Friday evening in an Israeli artillery strike on a school for displaced people in Al-Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City, Gaza’s Civil Defense said.
Mahmoud Basal, the Civil Defense spokesman, said the school was hit while civilians were inside for a wedding celebration.
Basal said that the school, located near a hospital, remained under continuous attack, which delayed the arrival of rescue teams. He said that some of the injured were evacuated using civilian vehicles.
The Israeli army bombarded a school and a wedding in Tufah area in Gaza city killing many children and other civilians. pic.twitter.com/VEKYAF48J7
— Mustafa Barghouti @Mustafa_Barghouti (@MustafaBarghou1) December 19, 2025
Additional shells fired after the initial strike worsened the situation, he added, noting that most of the dead were children.
Basal condemned attacks on schools and shelters for civilians as serious violations of international law, calling on the international community to protect civilians.
Local sources reported that Israeli tanks continued shelling eastern Al-Tuffah neighborhood, preventing ambulances from reaching the site for hours.
The funeral prayer to send off seven Palestinians killed last night in the Israeli targeting of a school shelter in the east of Gaza. pic.twitter.com/CdYIoa1z7k
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) December 20, 2025
Children Freeze to Death
Meanwhile on Friday, Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, has warned that babies and children in the Gaza Strip are dying from harsh winter weather, calling on Israeli occupation to ease its aid blockade as the military continues to violate the ceasefire and press on with its genocidal war.
Citing the death of a 29-day-old premature baby, Said Asad Abedin, from severe hypothermia in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, MSF said on Friday that winter storms “combined with the already dire living conditions [are] increasing health risks”.
The death toll from extreme weather stood at 13 as of Thursday, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Another two-week-old baby, Mohammed Khalil Abu al-Khair, froze to death without access to proper shelter or clothing earlier this week.
Ahmed al-Farra, head of the maternity pediatric department at Nasser Medical Complex, said in a video update that “hypothermia is very dangerous” for babies. “If nothing is offered for these families in the tents, for warming, for mobile homes, for caravans, unfortunately, we will see more and more” deaths, al-Farra said.
Source: Palestinian media (translated and edited by Al-Manar)