- Nearly 100 dead after Israeli attack on Gaza school
In a devastating Israeli airstrike on a school building in the city of Gaza, dozens of people were killed, according to Palestinian reports. A spokesperson for the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Civil Defense said that at least 93 people were killed in the building, which was being used as a refugee shelter.
The Israeli military confirmed the attack, which targeted a Hamas command center located in the building. The air force used small-caliber rockets, and the army said the death toll could not be high. Neither side's claims could be independently verified.
The attack occurred in the early morning hours while many were performing their morning prayers. Men were in the ground floor, while women and children were on the upper floor of the Al-Tabain School in the center of Gaza City.
Hospitals in Gaza at their limit
Witnesses described horrific scenes. The smell of burned flesh filled the air, and body parts were scattered far and wide, said a neighbor who rushed to the scene after the explosion. He said he was crying. A woman who survived the attack on the upper floor said she lost ten relatives, including her father, two sons, and her brothers.
Palestinian medical and security circles estimated more than 100 dead and dozens more injured. The Civil Defense spokesperson said many more would die because hospitals in the Gaza Strip were barely able to provide adequate care for the severely injured.
The Israeli military said Hamas had set up a command center in the prayer room of the Al-Tabain School in the center of Gaza City. At the time of the attack, at least 20 Hamas fighters were reportedly present. Hamas denied this, claiming that the victims were civilians.
Mediator countries condemn Israel's attack
The attack sparked outrage in the region. Egypt and Qatar – two Arab countries mediating indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas – condemned the "massacre." It was a "continuation of large-scale crimes" in which "vast numbers of unarmed civilians" were killed, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said. The attack was a "clear proof" that there was no will on the Israeli side to end the brutal war in the Gaza Strip.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry described it as a "brutal crime against defenseless civilians." Qatar called for an urgent international investigation into the incident.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed horror at the attack. "At least ten schools have been targeted in the past few weeks. There is no justification for these massacres," Borrell wrote on the X platform. "We are shocked by the terrible overall number of casualties." A ceasefire is the only way to stop the killing of civilians and ensure the release of hostages, he warned.
Israel: Hamas uses civilians as human shields
In the conflict raging for ten months in the sealed-off coastal region, many civilians continue to lose their lives in Israeli attacks. Israel's objective in this war is to destroy Hamas. The fact that civilians are often among the casualties is explained by Israel as Hamas terrorists using schools and hospitals as shields and exploiting civilians as human shields. Civilian casualties are regrettable but legitimate "collateral damage" of military actions, according to their statement.
These and opposing accounts are difficult to verify on a case-by-case basis. The International Court of Justice in The Hague is currently reviewing a lawsuit filed by South Africa, which aims to establish that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza war. Israel strongly denies this.
The UNRWA Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, condemned the latest Israeli attack. Schools, like other civilian facilities, should never be a target for any party in the conflict, nor should they be used for military purposes.
The Gaza war was sparked by the unprecedented massacre in October 2023, in which Hamas and other groups killed over 1,200 people in Israel. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, as of Saturday, 39,790 people have been killed and a further 91,702 injured in the Gaza Strip since the war began. These numbers do not distinguish between civilians and combatants and cannot be independently verified.
A ceasefire in the Gaza war is seen as key to easing tensions in the Middle East. The US, Qatar, and Egypt have both sides in a joint statement, urging them to reach an agreement.
- The international community has condemned the Israeli attack, with Egypt and Qatar labeling it a "massacre" and a "continuation of large-scale crimes," leading to the death of "vast numbers of unarmed civilians."
- The Israeli military's justification for the attack on the Al-Tabain School in Gaza City is that Hamas had set up a command center in the prayer room, using civilians as human shields, which they view as "legitimate collateral damage" in military actions.
