Rafah - Ma‘an - One Palestinian was killed and six injured in the Gaza Strip when an unidentified group of gunmen attacked a Palestinian school belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
The attack took place while the director of UN relief operations in Gaza, John Ging, and Palestinian officials were attending a celebration at the UN‘s ‘Umariyya school, in Tal as-Sultan, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
Palestinian security sources told Ma‘an: "An armed group hurled grenades and opened fire at Palestinian citizens and the visiting delegations while they were on their way out of the school. They also attacked the convoy of the UN operations director, which resulted in the killing of 27-year-old Sulaiman Ash-Shaer, one of the escorts of Palestinian Legislative Council member, Majid Abu Shammala. Six other people were injured."
The presidential guards transported Ging to a safe location.
Among the injured were students and their relatives, in addition to the school guard.
The presidential guards pursued the group and there are unverified reports that they captured two of the assailants.
‘Violation of Islamic laws‘
In a demonstration near the school on Saturday a religious group threatened to attack the celebration, as they claimed it contradicted Islamic laws.
It is unprecedented in the Gaza Strip that a school is attacked with grenades and machine guns.
Ma‘an learned that UNRWA held an emergency meeting to discuss possible repercussions of this serious assault.
In another incident, a group of journalists who were covering the celebration at the ‘Umariyya school, were attacked and beaten by masked gunmen, before the Palestinian police intervened to protect the journalists.