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More than 100 Palestinians have been killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli airstrike while praying at a school, Hamas has claimed.
Hamas said the strike on the Al-Tabeen school, central Gaza, wounded 47 people. Israel said it was targeting a Hamas command centre and 20 militants were killed.
“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 its statement, the Israeli army said its air forces “struck command and control centre served as a hideout for Hamas terrorists and commanders.”
It comes as Israel has intensified its attacks in Gaza this week, with tanks moving back into the city of Khan Younis on Friday, as the region braces for Iran and Hezbollah to retaliate over the killing of two top commanders in Tehran and Beirut.
Meanwhile, fighting intensified in Gaza as families fled from parts of the Strip’s second-largest city following an evacuation order issued by Israel’s military.
Key Points
- More than 100 killed in Israeli strike on Gaza school, Hamas claims
- Iran says strike on school example of Israel’s ‘crimes’ in Gaza
- UN special rapporteur: Israel committing ‘genocide one school at a time’
- Hamas brands Israel‘s attack part of ‘extermination campaign’
- Israel denies claims it killed more than 100 Palestinians in strike
Pictured: Gaza’s Al-Taba’een school in ruins after Israeli strike
Iran condemns strike on al-Tabin school example of Israel’s ‘crimes’ in Gaza
The Iranian foreign ministry has described Israel’s attack on al-Tabin school in Gaza City an example of “genocide and crimes against humanity”.
Spokesman Nasser Kanaani accused Israel of not being committed to any international laws or moral principles and called for immediate action from the international community.
In a statement, Mr Kanaani urged Muslim countries to “practically and firmly” support the Palestinian cause and told the UN Security Council to stop Israel’s “crimes” in Gaza.
Israel claims the bombed mosque had ‘no women or children’ despite casualties
A military official said that the part of the mosque struck was a men’s area where no women or children were present.
The Israeli official said: “This was verified by intelligence and the strike was carried out using three small, precise munitions which cannot cause the scale of damage that the Palestinians are reporting.”
But at a news conference in Gaza City, Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal said that the strike hit “the upper and ground floors of the school. The upper floor included women and children and the ground floor included people who were praying. They were directly hit.”
Israel says Palestinian militant groups embed among Gaza’s civilians, operating from within schools, hospitals and designated humanitarian zones - but Hamas and its allies deny.
Hamas said the strike was a horrific crime and a serious escalation. Izzat El-Reshiq, a member of Hamas’ political office, said in a statement that the dead did not include a “single combatant.”
Jordan: School strike ‘flagrant violation of international law'
The Jordanian foreign ministry has said that Israel’s attack on n al-Tabin school in Gaza City is a breach of “all humanitarian values”.
In the statement, it said: “In the absence of a decisive international stance to restrain Israeli aggression and compel it to respect international law and stop its aggression against Gaza, and the results of this are unprecedented killings, deaths and human catastrophe”.
The ministry added the attack, which took place during ongoing ceasefire talks, represents “an indication of the Israeli government’s attempt to block these efforts and postpone them”.
Salma Ouaguira10 August 2024 11:10 1723283195UN special rapporteur: Israel committing ‘genocide one school at a time’
The UN’s special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories has accused Israel of committing genocide “one school at a time”.
Francesca Albanese condemned the “world’s indifference” to the bloodshed in Gaza following Israel’s strike on al-Tabin school.
She tweeted: “Israel is genociding the Palestinians one neighborhood at the time, one hospital at the time, one school at the time, one refugee camp at the time, one ‘safe zone’ at the time.
“May the Palestinians forgive us for our collective inability to protect them, honouring the most basic meaning of international law.”
Salma Ouaguira10 August 2024 10:46 1723282055Palestinian health authorities confirm death toll rises to 80
The death toll from an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza City school early today has risen to 80, Palestinian health authorities said.
The Israeli military acknowledged the strike on the Tabeen school, claiming it hit a Hamas command center within the school. Hamas denied that.
Fadel Naeem, director of the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, told The Associated Press that the facility received the bodies of 80 people killed in the strike.
He said medical teams identified 70 bodies and they received body parts of at least 10 others.
The school, like almost all those in Gaza, has been used as a shelter for people forced to flee their homes by the war.
Pictured: The aftermath of an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza
Israel denies claims it killed more than 100 Palestinians in strike
Israel has denied claims that more than 100 Palestinians were killed in a strike on al-Tabin school in Gaza.
According to Israel’s military the shelter was used as a “Hamas base” in the Daraj area.
In a statement, the IDF said: “According to a preliminary examination, the numbers published by the government media office in Gaza — which acts as a media arm of Hamas — are exaggerated and do not match the information available in the IDF, the precise munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike.”
Salma Ouaguira10 August 2024 10:12 1723280326Ex-Scottish first minister condemns Israel’s ‘massacre of Gazan people’
Humza Yousaf has condemned Israel’s strike on a school-turned-shelter leading to the deaths of more than 100 Palestinians, according to Hamas.
The former first minister of Scotland tweeted: “Over 100 men, women and children killed as they took refuge in a school.
“These images, and our collective failure to stop the massacre of the Gazan people should haunt us forever. How many more innocent people have to be killed until we stop providing arms to Israel?”
Salma Ouaguira10 August 2024 09:58 1723279783Rescuers describe the moment Israel’s missile fell on al-Tabin school
Israel’s attack on al-Tabin School in Gaza was used as a shelter for people who have been forced to flee their homes by the war.
Video from the scene showed walls blown out on the ground level of a large building. Concrete chunks and twisted metal lay atop the blood-soaked floor, along with clothing, toppled furniture and other debris. A blackened car with the windows blown out was covered in rubble.
The strike hit without warning in the early morning before sunrise as people were praying at a mosque inside the school, according to Abu Anas, a witness who worked to rescue people.
“There were people praying, there were people washing and there were people upstairs sleeping, including children, women and old people,” he said.
“The missile fell on them without warning. The first missile, and the second. We recovered them as body parts.”
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