An eight-year-old Palestinian girl was killed along with her father in an Israeli strike in Gaza City on Sunday, only hours after she returned to school for the start of the new academic year, according to Palestinian medical officials.
Wafaa Yousef Nabil Akila and her father, Youssef Nabil Rabah Akila, were travelling in a vehicle in western Gaza City when an Israeli drone struck near the Hamid intersection, reports The Middle East Eye.
The strike also injured six other Palestinians, medical officials at al-Shifa Hospital said.
Images circulated before the attack showed Wafaa wearing a blue school uniform and smiling as she marked her first day back in school.
Video footage from the scene, published by Drop Site News, showed people holding strands of the girl's hair following the strike.
“This is all that’s left, world,” a man at the scene was heard saying, while another questioned the continuing violence despite claims of a ceasefire.
The Israeli military initially said the strike targeted a Hamas member and that it was reviewing the results of the operation.
On Monday, the military identified Youssef Akila as a company commander in Hamas’s elite Nukhba force and alleged that he had been involved in planning attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians and efforts to rebuild the group’s military capabilities.
The military did not release publicly available evidence supporting those allegations in its statement.
Wafaa’s death drew widespread anger online, with Palestinians and others highlighting the contrast between children returning to school and the continuing violence in Gaza.
Formal schooling in the Gaza Strip is expected to resume later this month, although some schools and alternative education facilities have already reopened.
Large parts of Gaza’s education infrastructure have been damaged or destroyed during the conflict, leaving many children dependent on makeshift classrooms, tents and buildings being used as shelters.
Wafaa was among several Palestinians reported killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Sunday.
In central Gaza, seven-year-old Saadi Ghaliya was killed when Israeli artillery struck the Sakina School, which was sheltering displaced families east of Deir al-Balah, according to Palestinian reports. Several others were wounded.
In Gaza City, 28-year-old Mohammad Atef Arafat Sukkar was killed in an Israeli drone strike near a telecommunications junction in the Rimal area, Palestinian sources said.
Hassan Ali Saqallah, 19, later died from injuries sustained after being shot near Palestine Stadium and al-Mamounia School.
The reported deaths came despite a US-backed ceasefire that Palestinian sources say has failed to stop deadly incidents in the Gaza Strip.
