- Circles: 100 dead after Israeli attack on Gaza school
During the ongoing conflict in Gaza, mediators are insistently calling for an agreement on a ceasefire, but the bloodshed in the sealed-off coastal strip continues for now. At least 100 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza City, according to medical and security sources. Israel's army attacked the school, which was being used as a shelter for displaced people, during the early morning Muslim prayer, the Hamas-controlled media office said. Israel's army claimed that Hamas was using the building as a command center and a hiding place, but these claims could not be independently verified.
Before the attack, "numerous measures" were taken to minimize the risk to civilians, the Israeli army said in the early morning. The building was used to plan and prepare attacks against Israel's troops and the state of Israel. Many of the victims were burned in the attack, the Hamas-controlled media office added.
Amid concerns about a possible Iranian and its allies' retaliatory strike following the killing of two top Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah leaders against Israel, the U.S. is pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza. An escalation in the Middle East is "not in the interest of any party," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. In a phone call with Israel's Defense Minister Joav Galant, he reaffirmed the U.S.'s ironclad support while also stressing the "urgent need" for a ceasefire, a spokesperson said.
Russia bans its airlines from flying over Israel at night
Russia's aviation authority has prohibited Russian airlines from flying in Israeli airspace for the coming nights, from 00:00 to 06:00 CET. The ban, which comes into effect at dawn today, will last until 11:00 CET on August 16, according to a notice from Russia's Rosaviatsiya agency. No reason was given, but the context suggests a feared Iranian air strike on Israel. Russia is a close ally of Iran and has recently supplied it with additional air defense weapons.
A ceasefire in the ten-month-long Gaza conflict is seen as key to easing tensions in the Middle East. The U.S., Qatar, and Egypt, which are mediating the conflict, have urged both sides to reach an agreement in a joint statement. It's time to seal a ceasefire and an agreement on the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, U.S. President Joe Biden wrote on the X platform. "There's no time to waste."
Blinken: Ceasefire in Gaza creates conditions for stability
In the statement signed by Biden, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Israel and Hamas were urged to resume talks in Doha or Cairo on August 15 to "close all remaining gaps and begin implementing the agreement without further delay." A ceasefire would secure the release of hostages, enable more humanitarian aid for the population, and create "the conditions for broader regional stability," Blinken said, according to the spokesperson in the call with Galant.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced shortly after the publication of the joint declaration by the mediators that Israel would send a delegation on Thursday. Netanyahu's far-right coalition partner, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, subsequently described the deal demanded by the mediators on the platform X as a "dangerous trap". He called it a surrender agreement that the mediators were imposing on Israel, Smotrich ranted. The US government promptly criticized this.
USA: Criticism from Israeli Finance Minister on Gaza Deal "Absurd"
Statements like Smotrich's are "outrageous and absurd," said John Kirby, the communications director of the US National Security Council. Such statements are not only factually wrong but also endanger the lives of hostages and run counter to Israel's own security interests. US President Biden will "not allow extremists to derail things, including extremists in Israel who are making these preposterous accusations against the deal," Kirby said.
Smotrich is essentially suggesting that the war should continue without pause and without regard for the lives of hostages, Kirby said. "His arguments are completely false. They mislead the Israeli public." The agreement negotiated over months fully protects Israel's national security interests. Most of Hamas' leading figures are now dead, and its organized military structure has been destroyed, Kirby said. "Israel has now almost achieved all its major military objectives, except for the explicit war aim of bringing the hostages home."
Report: Hamas Demands Release of Barguti
An exchange of hostages in Hamas' custody for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, as provided for in the deal, is not a surrender, Kirby emphasized. According to an Arabic media report cited in Israel, Hamas is demanding the release of Marwan Barguti, a Palestinian politician imprisoned in Israel, in the first phase of a planned agreement with Israel. He belongs to the rival Fatah party, which dominates the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank.
Barguti was sentenced to five life terms in Israel for murder in 2004. For his supporters, he is a freedom fighter, the "Wall Street Journal" reported last month. His popularity among Palestinians is based on his image as a promoter of violence against Israel, but also as a pragmatist who seeks a lasting peace agreement. Barguti's significance is shown in Hamas' demand to release him as part of an exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, the newspaper reported, citing Arab mediators.
UNRWA General Commissioner Lamented the Scale of Destruction in Gaza
The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre with over 1,200 deaths that Hamas and other groups' terrorists carried out in Israel last October. According to the health authority controlled by Hamas, more than 39,600 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war. The number does not distinguish between civilians and fighters and cannot be independently verified.
Facing the high number of civilian casualties, catastrophic humanitarian situation, and devastating destruction in Gaza, Israel is under heavy international criticism. According to the UNRWA Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, two out of three buildings in Gaza are now damaged or destroyed, citing recent data from the UN's satellite monitoring program. With each passing day of the war, Lazzarini lamented on Twitter, an entire community is further decimated.
The Israeli army stated that they took "numerous measures" to minimize civilian casualties before the attack on the school.The U.S. is urging both Israel and Hamas to resume talks for a ceasefire and release of hostages, as mentioned by President Joe Biden.
