At least 53 people have been killed and 63 others injured after an Israeli airstrike hit a girls’ primary school in the southern Iranian city of Minab, amid rapidly escalating military tensions between Iran, Israel, and the United States.
Gatekeepers News reports that Iranian state media reported that the attack occurred on Friday during school hours, when students and teachers were present, leading to heavy civilian casualties. Rescue teams were still searching through the rubble late into the night, raising fears that the death toll could rise further.
According to local officials, the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ school was directly hit during a wave of coordinated missile strikes carried out by Israel, with support from the United States. Footage from the scene showed collapsed classrooms, scattered school materials, and emergency workers pulling injured students from the debris.
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, condemned the strike, describing it as a deliberate attack on civilians and a serious violation of international law. He said dozens of schoolgirls were killed at a single location and vowed that those responsible would be held accountable.
Authorities in Hormozgan province confirmed that hospitals in Minab and neighbouring cities had been placed on emergency alert to handle the influx of casualties. Several critically injured victims were transferred to specialist centres for advanced treatment.
The deadly strike came amid a wider military escalation that saw the United States and Israel launch coordinated missile attacks on Iranian targets, followed by retaliatory strikes from Iran on US military bases and strategic locations across the Middle East. Explosions were reported in several Gulf cities, including Abu Dhabi, Doha, Manama, and Kuwait.
Iran described the attack on the school as a war crime and called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council. The government declared a period of national mourning and ordered intensified rescue and relief operations in the affected areas.
As tensions continue to rise, international bodies and humanitarian organisations have urged restraint, warning that further escalation could result in more civilian casualties and deepen the humanitarian crisis in the region.
