Israel strike on Gaza school kills more than 100, says Palestinian news agency
CAIRO: More than 100 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli strike on a Gaza school sheltering displaced people, the official Palestinian news agency said on Saturday (Aug 10), while the Israeli army said it had hit a Hamas command centre.
“The Israeli strikes targeted the displaced people while performing Fajr (dawn) prayers, a matter led to a rapid increase in the number of casualties,” the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said in a statement.
The agency said three Israeli rockets hit the school in Gaza City, describing the incident as a “horrific massacre”, with some bodies catching fire.
In its statement, the Israeli army said its air forces “struck command and control centre served as a hideout for Hamas terrorists and commanders”.
“The IAF precisely struck Hamas terrorists operating within a Hamas command and control centre embedded in the Al-Taba’een school and located adjacent to a mosque in Daraj Tuffah, which serves as a shelter for the residents of Gaza City,” it added.
“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and intelligence information.”
The strike comes two days after Gaza authorities said more than 18 people were killed in Israeli strikes on two other schools in Gaza City, with the military saying at the time it had struck Hamas command centres.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for its Oct 7 attack, but agreed to resume talks next week at the request of international mediators following intense diplomacy aimed at averting a region-wide conflagration.
Iran has claimed that Israel wants to spread war in the Middle East, and Hamas officials, some analysts and critics in Israel have said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has prolonged the fighting for political gain.
During 10 months of war across the Gaza Strip, the military has found itself returning to some areas to fight the militants again.
“Enough!” shouted Khan Younis resident Ahmed al-Najjar.
“Have mercy on us, for God’s sake, the young children and women are dying in the streets. Enough!”
Israel’s military said Friday that troops were operating around Khan Younis, the southern Gaza city from which soldiers had withdrawn in April after months of fierce fighting with Hamas.
After the military issued an evacuation order for parts of the city, AFPTV images showed a crowd of people flowing through dusty, damaged streets on foot or on donkey and motorcycle carts piled with 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 Younis in the past 72 hours”, UN spokeswoman Florencia Soto Nino said.
