CAIRO: An Israeli airstrike on a Gaza school compound housing displaced families killed around 100 people, the Hamas-run Gaza government said on Saturday (Aug 10).
Video clips from the site showed body parts scattered on the ground and more bodies being carried away and covered in blankets on the floor. Empty food tins lay in a puddle of blood and burnt mattresses and a child’s doll among the debris.
In another part of the Tabeen school complex in Gaza City, men prayed over a dozen body bags laid out on the ground.
The Hamas-run media office said in a statement that the strikes hit when people sheltering at the school were performing dawn prayers, leading to many casualties.
“So far, there are more than 93 martyrs, including 11 children and six women. There are unidentified remains,” said Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson, Mahmoud Bassal in a televised news conference.
Around 350 families had been sheltering at the compound, Bassal said. Two floors were hit, the upper floor housing families, including women and children, and the lower floor that was used as a mosque. The Gaza health ministry has so far not provided casualty details.
Hamas said the strike was a horrific crime and a serious escalation. Izzat El-Reshiq, a member of Hamas’ political office, said the dead did not include a “single combatant.”
Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought shelter in Gaza’s schools, most of which have stopped functioning since the start of the war 10 months ago.
A separate strike on Saturday killed three Palestinians in Al-Nuseirat, in central Gaza and another killed one person in the nearby Deir Al-Balah city, medics said.
A spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, urged Israel’s ally Washington to put an end to the “blind support that leads to the killing of thousands of innocent civilians, including children, women, and the elderly.”
Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia condemned the strike, which came as mediators were pushing to resume ceasefire talks. Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the strike should serve as a turning point in their efforts.
Egypt said that the killing of Gaza civilians showed Israel had no intention to end the war. Qatar’s foreign ministry described the strike as a “horrific massacre”.
Egypt, the United States and Qatar have scheduled a new round of ceasefire negotiations for Thursday, as fears are growing of a broader conflict, involving Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said he will not end the war until Hamas no longer poses a threat to Israelis, said a delegation would be sent to the Aug 15 talks.
A Hamas official told Reuters the group was studying the new offer for talks but did not elaborate.
Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel on Oct 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry, and health officials say most of the fatalities have been civilians. – Reuters
(Reporting by Ali Swafta, Maayan Lubell, Nidal al-Mughrabi; Muhammad Al Gebaly, Hatem Maher, Ahmed Tolba; Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Miral Fahmy, Mark Potter and Ros Russell)
