Israeli strike on Gaza school building kills more than 70, hospital chief says

An Israeli airstrike on a school building sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City has killed more than 70 people, a hospital director told the BBC.

Fadl Naeem, the head of al-Ahli hospital where most of the injured were admitted, said that those who have been identified so far, the remains of many others were so altered that it was difficult to identify them.

An Israeli army spokesman said al-Taba’een school “serves as a military center for Hamas and Islamic Jihad”, which Hamas denies.

The strike was criticized by the West, as well as regional countries who said it showed that Israel has no desire to reach a ceasefire or end the war in Gaza.

Israel has attacked such shelters in Gaza in the past few weeks.

According to the United Nations, 477 of Gaza’s 564 schools have been hit or damaged since July 6, with more than a dozen targets since then.

The Al-Taba’een school accommodated more than 1,000 people – it recently received a large number of homeless people in the town of Beit Hanoun, after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes.

The building also served as a mosque and the Israeli strike struck during morning prayers, witnesses said.

Jaafar Taha, a student who lives near the school, told the BBC that the sound of the explosion was followed by screaming and noise.

“Save us, save us,” they shouted,” he said.

“The incident was horrible. There were body parts everywhere and blood covered the walls.”

Salim Oweis, a spokesman for the UN children’s agency, Unicef, told the BBC that the attack was “horrendous”.

“All those schools are full of citizens, children, mothers and families, who take refuge in any empty place, be it a school or a mosque, whatever it may be, even in hospital premises.”

Israel’s military said it had “attacked Hamas terrorists operating under a Hamas center centered on al-Taba’een school”.

A statement by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency said “at least 19 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists” were “eliminated” in the attack.

An earlier IDF statement said “about 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists” had been “operating” in the compound.

Earlier estimates of the dead were more than a dozen, while the Hamas-affiliated health organization in charge of ambulances said more than 60 had been killed, according to the AP. The Civil Protection Agency has put the number at over 90.

The BBC cannot independently verify figures from either side.

An Israeli spokesman said the casualty figures released by Hamas officials “do not match the information kept by the IDF, the weapons used and the accuracy of the strike”.

Hamas described the attack as “a heinous crime and a dangerous escalation” in Israel’s war of extermination against the Palestinian people.

Fatah, the Palestinian rival of Hamas in the Israeli-controlled West Bank, said Israel’s aim was to “exterminate the Palestinian people with a goal of killing each other”.

The US said it was “deeply concerned” by reports of casualties and wanted more information.

A spokesman for the US National Security Council said: “We know that Hamas has been using schools as a place to meet and operate.

“But we have also said repeatedly and consistently that Israel must take steps to reduce civilian casualties.”

He said that “too many civilians continue to be killed and injured”, adding that “it emphasizes the urgency of the ceasefire and hostage-taking”.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, the UN aid agency for the Palestinian people, said: “It is time for these unfolding horrors to end.”

The French Foreign Ministry said it condemned the strike “in the strongest terms”.

“For several weeks, school buildings have been targeted repeatedly, with an unbearable number of victims,” ​​the statement said.

“Israel must respect international humanitarian law,” he added.

The UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, said he was “appalled” by the tragic loss of life and stressed the need for an “immediate stop”.

The strike also drew attention to the controversial Gaza war.

Israel says Hamas uses public infrastructure to plan and carry out attacks, which is why it targeted hospitals and schools – areas protected under international law.

Hamas has consistently denied the charges.

Either way, these are both areas where Gazans displaced by the conflict have sought refuge – especially in schools, more than 80% of which have been attacked or directly injured.

Since the beginning of July, Israel has struck at least 13 of them – including four in a four-day period – each time announcing that it was taking steps to reduce the risk of harming civilians, including the use of direct weapons.

Many of the schools were run by the UN before the war, and the UN strongly condemned the strikes.

This seems to be a very dangerous incident. It will no doubt increase pressure for an end to the fighting, but the reaction of regional mediators raises concerns that it could set back struggling efforts to achieve one.

Egypt, one of the mediators, said Israel’s “deliberate killing” of unarmed Palestinians showed Israel lacked the political will to end the war.

Qatar, which is also participating in the ceasefire talks, has called for an urgent international investigation.

Hamas-led gunmen killed around 1,200 people during an attack on Israel on October 7, and took another 251 back to Gaza as hostages.

That attack triggered a major Israeli military offensive in Gaza and the current war.

More than 39,790 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli campaign, according to the health ministry run by Hamas in Gaza.

Additional reporting by Rushdi Abualouf, Gaza correspondent in Istanbul, Turkey