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Gaza Civil Defense said on Saturday At least 93 people were killed in an Israeli bombing of a school that the Israeli army said was used as a command center for the Islamist Hamas movement that rules the territory.
According to data released by the Palestinian Islamic Movement, the bombings are among the worst since the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip, which was triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israeli territory on October 7.
Hamas condemned it as a “horrible crime” and a “dangerous escalation” after Israel agreed on Friday to resume ceasefire talks in the Palestinian enclave on August 15 under international pressure.
Centrally located Gaza CityAccording to media sources from the Hamas government, which has been in power in Gaza since 2007, the al-Tabi’een school, which was attacked on Friday night, hosted about 250 displaced people, mostly women and children.
he Mahmoud Basar, spokesman for the Civil Defence AgencyThere were reports of multiple explosions “Attacked two floors of al-Tabi’een Quranic school and the (adjacent) mosque with three missiles” and? The attack left “93 people dead, including 11 children and 6 women”.
He added: “Dozens of people were injured, some of whom are in intensive care, and there are many unidentified body parts and missing persons.”
The Israeli army said on social media
Israel says it allowed it to kill at least 19 terrorists
Meanwhile, Israel assured that its bombing of a school in Gaza City that housed war displaced people had killed at least 19 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militiamen.
“We can now confirm that at least 19 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists were eliminated in that operation,” the Israeli military said in a statement, releasing the names and photos of the slain fighters.
The report said that according to “intelligence investigations,” the militants operated through a command center installed in the complex to plan attacks on Israel and its security forces. “Three precision munitions were used in the attack,” he said, adding that “the compound where the terrorists were located was not seriously damaged.”
‘The bodies piled up like mountains’
Rescue workers collected bloody bodies from a destroyed building and transported them in several ambulances, according to AFP pictures.
A rescuer who asked not to be named recalled that “people in the school were praying” when the explosion occurred, and claimed to have found “mountains of bodies.”
this Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territory Accusing Israel of “genocide against the Palestinians”, Qatar called for an “urgent international investigation” into what happened.
Saudi Arabia also condemned the attack and called for an end to the “massacre” in Gaza, while Turkey’s Foreign Ministry condemned “new crimes against humanity” and an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman denounced “war crimes.”
he European diplomacy chief Josep BorrellFor his part, he said he was “shocked” that the French Foreign Ministry recalled that “Israel imposed respect for international humanitarian law.”
After more than a dozen months of war, the Israeli army continues to fight Palestinian groups that are considered “terrorist” organizations by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
The Israeli army said on Friday its forces were battling Islamist militants in the devastated southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, and asked residents to evacuate the town’s eastern neighborhoods.
Resume negotiations?
The conflict has raised tensions in the Middle East, particularly following the death of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and the death of a commander of the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah in Beirut.
Israel claimed responsibility only for the second attack, but Hamas and Iran also accused Israel of Haniyeh’s death and promised revenge.
Faced with the prospect of a regional explosion, Qatar, Egypt and the United States on Thursday called on the two sides to resume indirect talks to agree on a ceasefire and the release of hostages taken by Hamas in the October attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been accused by opponents, outside analysts and Hamas of prolonging the war for political gain, has agreed to take part in these new talks.
Hamas has not yet responded after it this week named as its new leader Yahya Sinwar, who Israel has identified as the mastermind behind the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the conflict.
According to Israeli data, the Islamist militants killed 1,198 people that day, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostages.
However, the Israeli military estimates that there are still 111 hostages in Gaza, 39 of whom are presumed dead.
In retaliation, Israel pledged to end Hamas and launched a military campaign into Gaza that has left 39,790 people dead, according to the territory’s health ministry.
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