AFP :
Gaza’s civil defence agency said yesterday an Israeli air strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians killed 93 people, as Israel’s military accused Hamas of using the building as a command centre.
Hamas denounced the “dangerous escalation” in north Gaza, which came after international mediators invited the warring sides to resume next Thursday talks towards a long-sought ceasefire and hostage-release deal.
Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 39,790 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Jordan’s foreign ministry said the timing of the school strike “is an indication of the Israeli government’s efforts to obstruct and thwart these efforts.”
Civil defence in the Hamas-ruled territory said three Israeli missiles hit the school in Gaza City while people performed dawn prayers.
“Their bodies were torn apart,” civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP. “It reminds us of the first days of the war in the Gaza Strip.”
With most of Gaza’s 2.4 million people displaced, many have sought refuge in school buildings, which have been hit at least 14 times since July 6, according to an AFP tally.
Israel’s army said yesterday it had “precisely struck Hamas terrorists operating within a Hamas command and control centre embedded in the Al-Tabieen school.”
The military has repeatedly made similar accusations after strikes on the school shelters. Hamas has previously denied Israeli claims that it uses schools, hospitals and other civilian facilities for military aims.
Bodies and blood
AFPTV live images from the scene showed a large complex with a courtyard where debris lay inside and out. Part of the structure appeared to be a mosque, the upper story of which was partially blown out and charred.
Images showed white-shrouded bodies, blood stains on the ground, and smoke rising from the rubble.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and in January the military said it had dismantled the group’s command structure in northern Gaza. But the military has since found itself returning there and to other areas of the territory to battle fighters again.
Iran has accused Israel of wanting to spread war in the Middle East, and Hamas officials, some analysts and critics in Israel have said Netanyahu has prolonged the fighting.
However, Netanyahu’s office on Thursday said Israel would send negotiators “to conclude the details of implementing a deal,” after the joint invitation from mediators the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
The mediators’ invitation followed intense diplomacy aimed at averting a region-wide conflagration.
In a joint statement Thursday, the three countries’ leaders invited the warring parties to resume talks on August 15 in Doha or Cairo “to close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay.”
Recent discussions have focused on a framework outlined by US President Joe Biden in late May and later endorsed by the UN Security Council.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, in talks with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin, “raised the importance of swiftly achieving” a hostage release deal, Gallant’s office said.
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said on social media platform X: “We need a ceasefire in Gaza now” and expressed strong support for the mediators’ efforts.
Engulfed by fire
Yesterday’s strike in north Gaza came after the military on Friday said troops were operating around Khan Yunis, the southern Gaza city from which soldiers had withdrawn in April after months of fierce fighting with Hamas.
The Gaza war has already drawn in Iran-aligned groups around the region. Fears of a broader Middle East war have surged following vows of vengeance from Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, Hamas, Iran and others for the killing of two senior fighters, including Hamas’s political leader.