- Circles: 100 dead after Israeli attack on Gaza school
While mediators are pressing for an agreement on a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, the bloodshed in the blockaded 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 said the building was being used as a Hamas command center and hideout, but these claims could not be independently verified.
Israel's army said it took "numerous measures" to minimize civilian risk before the attack, and that the building was being used to plan and prepare attacks against Israeli troops and the state. Many of the victims were burned in the attack, the Hamas-controlled media office said.
Amid concerns about Iranian retaliation and its allies after the killing of two senior Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah leaders, the US is pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza. "It is not in the interest of any party" to escalate tensions in the Middle East, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. In a phone call with Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant, he reaffirmed US ironclad support but also stressed 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 from midnight to 6:00 AM local time. The ban, which comes into effect at dawn today and lasts until 11:00 AM on August 16, was announced by Russia's Rosaviatsiya agency. No reason was given, but the move is likely linked to fears of an 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 US, Qatar, and Egypt, which are mediating the conflict, have urged both sides to reach an agreement. "It's time to seal the deal on a ceasefire and the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners," US President Joe Biden wrote on the X platform. "There's no time to waste."
Blinken: Ceasefire in Gaza creates conditions for stability
In a joint 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 on August 15 in Doha or Cairo to "close all remaining gaps and begin implementing the agreement without further delay." A ceasefire would ensure the release of hostages, allow more humanitarian aid to reach the population, and create "the conditions for broader regional stability," Blinken said, according to the spokesperson's statement to Galant.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced shortly after the publication of the joint declaration of 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 described it as a surrender agreement that the mediators were imposing on Israel, raged Smotrich. The US government promptly criticized this.
US: Criticism from Israeli Finance Minister on Gaza Deal "Absurd"
Statements like Smotrich's are "outrageous and absurd," said John Kirby, 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 run things out of control, including extremists in Israel who are making these ridiculous accusations against the deal," Kirby said.
Smotrich essentially proposes 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 leading figures of Hamas are now dead, and the organized military structure of Hamas has been destroyed, Kirby said. "Israel has now almost achieved all its main military goals, 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 party Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank.
Barguti was sentenced to five life terms in Israel in 2004 for murder. 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 the demand of the rival Hamas 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 Laments the Scale of Destruction in Gaza
The trigger for the Gaza war was 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. This number does not distinguish between civilians and fighters and cannot be independently verified.
In light of the high civilian death toll, dire humanitarian situation, and devastating destruction in Gaza, Israel faces severe international criticism. According to the UNRWA Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, two-thirds of Gaza's buildings are now damaged or destroyed, based on the latest data from the UN's satellite monitoring program. With each passing day of the conflict, Lazzarini lamented on Twitter, an entire community is further decimated.
John Kirby, communications director of the US National Security Council, strongly criticized the statements made by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich regarding the Gaza deal. Kirby labeled Smotrich's statements as "outrageous and absurd," stating that they were factually incorrect and endangered the lives of hostages. Moreover, John Kirby reiterated that the agreement fully protected Israel's national security interests and had almost achieved all its main military goals.
