Israeli Airstrike on Gaza School Leaves 90 Dead, Says Civil Defense
GAZA: Gaza's civil defense agency reported on Saturday that at least 90 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced individuals in the blockaded Palestinian territory.
90 Killed in Gaza School Following Israeli Strike, According to Civil Defense
Gaza(Staff Reporter):Israeli Airstrike on Gaza School Leaves 90 Dead, Says Civil Defense.The agency reported that three Israeli rockets hit the school in Gaza City, calling it a “horrific massacre,” with some of the victims’ bodies catching fire.
On Saturday, Israel’s military stated that it had “precisely targeted Hamas terrorists operating within a Hamas command and control center located in the Al-Taba’een school.”
This strike occurred just two days after Gazan officials reported that more than 18 people were killed in Israeli strikes on two other schools in Gaza City. The military had said at the time that it targeted Hamas command centers.
Iran has accused Israel of seeking to expand the conflict across the Middle East, while Hamas officials, along with some analysts and critics within Israel, have suggested that Netanyahu is extending the fighting for political purposes.
After 10 months of war throughout the Gaza Strip, the military has found itself repeatedly returning to certain areas to combat militants.
“Enough!” cried Ahmed al-Najjar, a resident of Khan Yunis. “For God’s sake, show some mercy—young children and women are dying in the streets. Enough!”
Israel’s military announced on Friday that troops were operating in the vicinity of Khan Yunis, a city in southern Gaza from which they had withdrawn in April after months of intense clashes with Hamas.
Following an evacuation order for parts of the city, AFPTV footage showed crowds of people moving through the dusty, damaged streets, either on foot or using donkey and motorcycle carts loaded with their belongings.
“We’ve been displaced 15 times,” said Mohammed Abdeen.
By Friday, the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) estimated that “at least 60,000 Palestinians may have moved towards western Khan Yunis in the past 72 hours,” according to UN spokeswoman Florencia Soto Nino.
Israeli Attack on Gaza School Kills at Least 30 Palestinians
Efforts for a Ceasefire
There has only been one ceasefire during the Gaza conflict, a week-long truce in November.
For months, U.S., Qatari, and Egyptian mediators have been working to establish a second ceasefire.
In a joint statement on Thursday, the leaders of these three nations called on the conflicting parties to resume negotiations on August 15 in either Doha or Cairo “to address all remaining issues and begin implementing the agreement without further delay.”
Netanyahu’s office announced that Israel would send negotiators to finalize the details of the agreement.
Hamas has not yet issued a public response to the mediators’ invitation.
Concerns of a Regional Conflict
The war in Gaza has already drawn in Iran-aligned groups from across the region, raising fears of a wider Middle East conflict, especially after vows of revenge for the killing of two senior militants, including Hamas’s political leader.
The assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh last week, while he was in Tehran, disrupted truce negotiations. Iran and Hamas have accused Israel of carrying out the attack, although Israel has not directly commented.
Haniyeh’s death occurred just hours after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, the military leader of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement. Israel stated that this strike was in retaliation for deadly rocket fire on the annexed Golan Heights.
Hamas’s ally, Hezbollah, has been engaging in near-daily cross-border exchanges with Israeli forces.
