Gaza city: The Israeli military has ‘unlawfully and indiscriminately’ used US-supplied munitions to bomb hundreds of school shelters in Gaza, killing hundreds of civilians, according to a damning new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

According to Islamic Republic News Agency, the report, titled “Gaza: Israeli School Strikes Magnify Civilian Peril,” documents over 500 Israeli airstrikes on school buildings, many of which were being used as shelters by displaced Palestinians. HRW investigated two specific attacks on schools, the Khadija girls’ school in Deir al-Balah and Zeitoun C school in Gaza City, where at least 49 people were killed, including children.

In both cases, HRW found no evidence of military targets, rendering the strikes ‘unlawfully indiscriminate’ under international law. The Israeli military frequently claims that it targets school shelters in Gaza where Palestinian resistance fighters have been hiding.

HRW emphasized that schools are protected civilian objects under international humanitarian law, and their use as shelters does not strip them of that protection. The organization called on the United States and other governments to halt arms sales to Israel, citing the ‘clear risk’ that such weapons may be used to commit serious violations of international law.

As of July 18, at least 836 Palestinians sheltering in schools have been killed, and 2,527 injured, according to UN figures cited in the report.