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An Israeli airstrike hit a religious school housing displaced Palestinians on Saturday (August 10), rescue workers in Gaza said, killing 93 people, sparking international condemnation even as Israel insisted it was targeting militants.
AFP could not independently verify the casualty toll, but if confirmed it would be one of the highest tolls from a single attack in the 10-month war between Israel and Palestinian militants since a Hamas assault on October 7.
The bombing of the Al-Tabieen school and mosque sparked criticism across the Middle East and beyond, as well as calls for a ceasefire, after international mediators invited the warring parties to resume talks to reach a long-sought ceasefire and hostage release deal.
The White House said it was “deeply concerned” about an Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza City and said Washington was in touch with Israel for more information.
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris told reporters separately on Saturday: “Far too many civilians have been killed,” while reiterating her call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was “appalled” by the school strikes.
France said “Israel must respect international humanitarian law.”
“For weeks, school buildings have been repeatedly targeted, with an intolerable number of civilian casualties,” the French Foreign Ministry said.
Britain’s top diplomat David Lammy said at X: “We need an immediate ceasefire to protect civilians, the release of all hostages, and an end to restrictions on aid.”
Civil defense rescuers in the Hamas-controlled area said three Israeli missiles hit the building complex in Gaza City as people were performing dawn prayers.
“They threw a missile at them while they were praying,” said one woman, mourning her dead child wrapped in a plastic body bag.
The Israeli military said it had carried out a “precision strike” on the Tabion military base. Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani added on the social media platform X that the base contained a “military facility” where “about 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants,” including commanders, were being held.
Hamas condemned the “dangerous escalation”, while the Palestinian group’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah called it a “horrible massacre”.
Iran, which supports both militant groups and accuses Israel of wanting to spark war in the Middle East following high-profile massacres in Tehran and Beirut, condemned the “brutal attack”.
“Everyone inside the mosque was killed,” said Abu Wasim, a local resident. “Even the upper floors where women and children slept were completely burnt.”
“The bodies were torn apart. This reminds us of the early days of the war in the Gaza Strip,” civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Basar told AFP.
Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once during the war, and many have sought shelter in schools, which have been attacked at least 14 times since July 6, according to an AFP tally.
Israel has made similar accusations of militant activity following the attack on the school shelter, while Hamas has denied using civilian facilities for military purposes.
‘Unbearable’ losses
AFP images showed the dead and wounded from the attack spread across the ground floor of the two-storey building, with debris strewn across the building’s interior and exterior.
Part of the upper floors were blown up and charred.
Basar told a news conference that among the victims in the school shelter were 11 children and six women, “and there were many body parts that could not be identified.”
Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said the timing showed Israel was trying to “obstruct and frustrate” the latest mediation efforts.
Qatar, one of the mediators, called for an “urgent international investigation”, while Turkey condemned it as a “new crime against humanity” and claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to “destroy the ceasefire talks”.
The Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war killed 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Palestinian militants have taken 251 hostages, 111 of whom remain in Gaza, and the Israeli military says 39 have died.
Israel’s retaliatory military operations in Gaza have killed at least 39,790 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which did not give specific details on the deaths of civilians and militants.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, once again accused Israel of committing “genocide” against the Palestinians.
Israel has previously condemned the independent expert’s “blatant distortion of facts”.
Measuring Response
Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday that Israel would send negotiators to “finalize the details of the implementation of the agreement” at the joint invitation of the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
Hamas officials, some analysts and critics in Israel say Netanyahu is seeking to prolong the fighting for political gain.
After intensive diplomatic efforts in recent days to avert conflict in the region, mediators invited the warring parties to resume negotiations on August 15.
The Gaza conflict has drawn in Iran-aligned groups from across the region, but fears of a wider war grew after two senior militants, including a Hamas political leader, were killed in an Israeli raid.
Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and other groups have vowed to retaliate.
Ceasefire talks were put on hold after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed during a visit to Tehran on July 31. Iran and Hamas blamed Israel for the killing, but Israel has not commented directly.
Palestinian groups have not yet formally responded to the mediator’s invitation but have nominated Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar as Haniyeh’s successor.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations said on Saturday that the Islamic Republic’s sovereignty had been “violated” and that it had a “legitimate right to self-defense.”
“However, we hope that our response will be timely and will not jeopardize a potential ceasefire,” the statement said.
(Editing by Georgi Gotev)
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