February 5 2002

SOS Children's Village facilities shot at on Gaza Strip

05/02/2002 - Shooting caused damage to the SOS Hermann Gmeiner School and the SOS Kindergarten located in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip on the evening of 2 February. None of the children and co-workers were injured, however, uncertainty and fear are great.

Some people approached the SOS Children's Village facilities at around 21.00 local time and suddenly started firing at the school fence and classrooms. Windows were damaged and there are bullet holes in the doors and walls. "We cannot be one hundred percent sure about the identity of the attackers," said an SOS co-worker from SOS Children's Villages in the Gaza Strip, which is an expression of the tense and uncertain situation in the Palestinian Territories.

Staff members at the school cleared up the damage caused so that the children could return to school and classes started again the following day.