(Adnkronos) – At least 100 people were killed and dozens more were injured in an Israeli air strike on a school in Gaza City, medical and security sources in the Palestinian territory said. The press office of the Hamas-controlled government in Gaza said the Israeli army attacked the school, which is being used as a shelter for displaced people, during morning prayers. The information has been independently verified.
The Israeli military (IDF) said it targeted Hamas militants who “operated in the Al-Taba’een school and near a mosque in Daraj Tuffah, which serves as a shelter for Gaza City residents” and that the center “served as a hideout for terrorists and Hamas commanders.”
The Israeli military did not provide any information on casualties in its statement on Telegram, but said that “numerous measures have been taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians,” while accusing the Palestinian militant organization Hamas of “brutally exploiting the civilian population and institutions as human shields for their terror activities.”
The “deliberate killing” of unarmed Palestinians during today’s raid on a school in Gaza City used as a shelter for displaced people shows that “Israel does not have the political will” to end the war in Gaza, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The raid came after Israel accepted a call by Egypt, the United States and Qatar for a final round of negotiations to reach a ceasefire agreement, set for August 15.
The statement said that Israel’s “commitment of such crimes on a large scale, such as the deliberate killing of civilians every time the mediators’ efforts are intensified, is the ultimate proof of the lack of political will to end this brutal war.” Instead, the Egyptian ministry’s statement continued, Israel “persists” in causing “the continued human suffering of Palestinians under the weight of an international humanitarian catastrophe that the world is helpless to stop.”
Despite this, Egypt reaffirms its diplomatic commitment to “ensure the entry of humanitarian aid through various means and work to achieve a ceasefire, no matter how difficult it is or how many obstacles there are.”
In recent weeks, Israeli attacks on schools have become much more frequent, with Israel targeting seven schools, according to the UN Human Rights Office. In a report this week, the UN said it was “horrified” by the escalation. Human rights groups say there is evidence that Israel is not doing enough to distinguish between civilians and combatants in Gaza, where the months-long war has killed at least 39,699 people, according to a toll released on Friday, according to local health officials. Gaza’s Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its toll, but says most of the dead are women and children.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has released $3.5 billion that Israel can use for weapons and military equipment, funds that were approved months ago by Congress. CNN reported, citing sources familiar with the notification sent by the State Department to Congress regarding the intention to send the aid that is part of the $14.1 billion package in favor of Israel approved last April. The funds, which come at a time when tensions between Israel and Iran continue to rise, will allow Tel Aviv to purchase weapons from the United States through the Foreign Military Financing program.
