The UNRWA School is located in a heavily built up area in the center of the Jabalia Camp. In the weeks and days prior to the incident, there were several incidents of shelling by the IDF of buildings in the vicinity of the School. In the days prior to the incident, armed clashes between militants and the IDF were talking place in the east of the Jabalia Camp and the IDF dropped leaflets requesting residents to move to Gaza City. However, witnesses interviewed by UNRWA had stated that there was no militant activity in the school or in its close vicinity, though one stated that she had heard rockets not far from the school in the days before the incident.
