Controversial assistance radical begins enactment successful Gaza
Harrowing cell-phone video shows the tiny silhouette of Ward Al-Sheikh Khalil trudging done rubble, her make-shift structure engulfed successful flames astir her, aft an Israeli strike deed the schoolhouse wherever she and her household had fled to flight the warfare raging astir them successful the Gaza Strip.
Khalil, conscionable 5 years old, survived. Her parent and 5 of her siblings did not marque it retired of the burning building.
When she returned to the country of the attack, she recovered her sister's abandoned flip-flop and broke down sobbing.
"They each died aft a rocket fell connected apical of them," she told CBS News' squad successful Gaza done tears. "The rocket came down and the spot was connected fire. The occurrence was raging. It burned my arm."
"The occurrence filled the entity and the ground," she said. "I was asleep, but I came retired from the fire. When I came out, I did not find my dad. They took maine to the Baptist Hospital, and I saw dada connected the way, successful the ambulance. I saw him. He had galore wounds connected his face."
"Dad is alive, and my member Seraj is alive, and I americium alive. That's all. But each my different siblings are dead," the small girl, held successful the arms of her uncle, told CBS News. "I privation we could get unneurotic again."
Ward Al-Sheikh Khalil, 5, a Palestinian miss who survived an Israeli onslaught connected the Fahmi al-Jarjawi School successful Gaza City wherever she was sheltering with her displaced family, is seen amid the ruins of the schoolhouse the adjacent day, held by her uncle, May 26, 2025.
Anadolu/Getty
The Israeli onslaught took spot successful the mediate of the night. The Israel Defense Forces said the people was a Hamas bid and power halfway wrong the schoolhouse building.
Rescuers successful the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Territory said the onslaught killed 33 people.
European Union main Ursula von der Leyen called the onslaught "abhorrent" connected Tuesday during a telephone with Jordan's King Abdullah II, according to a readout of the telephone from the EU cited by the French quality bureau AFP.
"The enlargement of Israel's subject operations successful Gaza targeting civilian infrastructure, among them a schoolhouse that served arsenic a structure for displaced Palestinian families, sidesplitting civilians, including children, is abhorrent," von der Leyen said, according to the EU. "The European Commission has ever supported — and volition proceed to enactment — Israel's close to information and self-defense. But this escalation and disproportionate usage of unit against civilians cannot beryllium justified nether humanitarian and planetary law."
Palestinians comb the country pursuing an Israeli airstrike astatine dawn connected a schoolhouse successful the al-Daraj vicinity of Gaza City that killed much than 30 radical connected May 26, 2025.
Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu/Getty
Khalil's uncle, Iyad Mohamed el-Sheikh Khalil, holding his niece, told CBS News that his full household had been displaced by the war, including his member who had sought structure with his woman and children astatine the schoolhouse successful Gaza City's Daraj neighborhood.
When helium heard reports of a onslaught connected the school, helium instantly tried to marque contact.
"Some pictures were released successful the media. When I looked astatine them, I saw Ward with the Civil Defense. I instantly knew that it was my niece," helium said. "When I came, I saw that the bodies of my brother's household were each charred and torn to pieces. It took a portion to find the assemblage of her (Ward's) elder brother, Abed, truthful that we could hide them each together. It was a horrific scene."
He disquieted astir the lasting interaction of surviving done specified trauma connected Gaza's children, including his niece.
"When they travel retired of specified bombardment and specified war, however bash you privation children to feel? They indispensable beryllium successful a unspeakable intelligence state. Even we are successful a unspeakable intelligence state," helium told CBS News.
Ward al-Sheikh Jalil, who survived an Israeli onslaught connected the Fahmi al-Jarjawi School successful Gaza City, is seen successful the ruins of the building, wherever she recovered slippers that belonged to her and her siblings, May 26, 2025.
Anadolu/Getty
Amid the bombings, Palestinians successful Gaza besides look a captious conflict to find food, aft a astir three-month-long Israeli blockade connected each humanitarian goods entering the territory.
Under unit from its allies, including the U.S., Israel began allowing immoderate humanitarian goods into Gaza past week, but assistance agencies accidental it's not astir capable to conscionable the needs of the enclave's astir 2 cardinal inhabitants.
The recently established U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation besides said it began distributing food connected Monday. The GHF said Tuesday that it had distributed a full of astir 462,000 meals implicit 2 days of operation.
The United Nations and different assistance organizations person objected to the group's methods, calling it a distraction.
"Even erstwhile they bring aid, thing reaches us," Islam Abu Taemia said portion scavenging for nutrient with her kid successful Gaza this week. "We're similar stray dogs collecting nutrient from trash. If we don't, we starve."
Debora Patta is simply a CBS News overseas analogous based successful Johannesburg. Since joining CBS News successful 2013, she has reported connected large stories crossed Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Edward R. Murrow and Scripps Howard awards are among the galore accolades Patta has received for her work.
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