According to authorities, an Israeli attack on a Gaza school sanctuary killed around 100 people

About 100 Palestinians were murdered in an Israeli bombardment on a school campus in Gaza City that was sheltering displaced Palestinian families, according to the Gaza Civil Emergency Service on Saturday. Israel, however, claimed that the death toll was inflated and that 19 terrorists were among the victims.

Body parts were seen strewn among the debris in the site’s video, and further victims were being removed and wrapped with blankets. In the wreckage, a child’s toy and scorched mattresses were found, along with empty food cans submerged in a pool of blood.

Men were seen praying over a dozen corpse bags that were placed on the Tabeen school complex’s floor in a another video.

The United governments, which has been collaborating with allies to stop the 10-month-old Gaza crisis from worsening into a regional confrontation, expressed grave worry about the Israeli strike in addition to criticism from Arab governments, Turkey, France, Britain, and the European Union.

Separate announcements from the Hamas-run government media office and Gaza’s Civil Emergency Service, which has a reliable track record of reporting fatality figures, said that the complex had been hit as its residents were praying at dawn.

“There have been over 93 martyrs to date, six of them are women and 11 of whom are youngsters. Mahmoud Bassal, the Palestinian civil defense spokesperson, stated during a televised press conference that “there are unidentified remains.”
Gaza’s schools, the majority of which have been shuttered since Israel launched its assault against Hamas, have become a haven for tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees.

According to Bassal, some 350 families—some of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians forced from their homes by Israel’s assault on Gaza—had taken refuge at the complex.

He claimed that the bottom level, which served as a mosque, and the top floor, which housed families, were both damaged.

The death toll, according to the Israeli military, was exaggerated.

The military released a statement saying, “The strike was carried out using three precise munitions, which can not cause the amount of damage that is being reported.”

It went on to say that the compound had not sustained any significant damage, and it cited overhead photographs and videos as evidence.

Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani stated on X, “The compound, and the mosque that was struck within it, served as an active Hamas and Islamic Jihad military facility,” without offering any supporting documentation.

According to an Israeli army officer, the targeted area of the mosque was designated exclusively for males.

While Hamas and its allies dispute this, Israel claims that Palestinian terrorists blend in with Gaza’s civilian population and operate out of schools, hospitals, and designated humanitarian zones.

According to Hamas, the strike constituted a grave escalation and a horrifying crime. According to Izzat El-Reshiq of Hamas’s political office, not a single combatant was among the deceased.

According to medical personnel, two separate strikes on Saturday killed one person in adjacent Deir Al-Balah and three Palestinians in Al-Nuseirat in central Gaza.

According to doctors, three Palestinians were killed by an Israeli attack in Rafah, close to the Egyptian border, later in the day.

Walid Alsousi, the chief of general security for Hamas’ armed wing, was slain in southern Gaza, according to an announcement made by the Israeli military. Hamas did not immediately respond.

The Hezbollah armed organization in Lebanon, which receives Iranian support, claimed to have attacked military installations in northern Israel with a drone. According to Israel’s military, no one was injured.

NEW CEASEFIRE TALKS ROUND

The White House demanded further information from Israeli officials on the attack on the school compound, stating that “far too many civilians continue to be killed and wounded” in the Gaza conflict.

Josep Borrell, the head of EU foreign policy, expressed his disgust at the school’s photos on X.

Israel’s ally Washington is asked to stop providing “blind support that leads to the killing of thousands of innocent civilians, including children, women, and the elderly,” according to Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt all denounced the strike.

It should be a turning point, according to senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri, as mediators work to get ceasefire negotiations back on track.

The committee was looking over a fresh proposal for consideration, a Hamas spokesman told Reuters, without providing any details.

The leader of Hamas’s delegation in the indirect ceasefire negotiations with Israel, Khalil Al-Hayya, told Al-Jazeera that condemnatory words were insufficient.

“Dismiss (Israeli) ambassadors, close down embassies and sever ties with the occupation,” he stated.

A fresh round of ceasefire talks has been arranged by Egypt, the US, and Qatar for this Thursday, amid mounting concerns about a wider confrontation involving Iran and Hezbollah.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, said that a delegation will be sent. Netanyahu has stated that he will not call off the war until Hamas is no longer a threat to Israelis.

Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli Finance Minister, retaliated on Friday against the White House’s charge that he was “dead wrong” to say that the ceasefire agreement under discussion would amount to Hamas’ capitulation.

One of Netanyahu’s far-right coalition allies, Smotrich, expressed gratitude to the United States for its backing of Israel in a post on X, but emphasized that it “will not submit to any external pressure that would harm Israel’s security.”

After Hamas fighters broke into southern Israel on October 7, murdering 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and taking more than 250 prisoners, according to Israeli counts, Israel began its attack on Gaza.

The health ministry reports that since then, the Israeli onslaught in Gaza has claimed the lives of approximately 40,000 Palestinians.

Israel claims at least one-third of the deaths are combatants, while Gaza health authorities claim the majority of the deaths have been civilians. 329 troops, according to Israel, have died in Gaza.