Israeli strike on Gaza school kills dozens, as regional tensions spiral
Cairo: An Israeli airstrike on a Gaza school compound housing displaced families killed around 100 people, the Hamas-run Gaza government said on Saturday.
The Health Ministry’s Ambulance and Emergency service said the strike on the Tabaeen school in central Gaza City also wounded 47 people.
But the Israeli military said it targeted Hamas militants in a “command and control centre” embedded within the school and adjacent mosque. The IDF also cast doubt on the death toll.
It is the latest Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war started some 10 months ago. The facility, like almost all of Gaza Strip’s schools, has been used as a shelter for people who have been forced to flee their homes by the war.
According to the United Nations, 466 out of 564 schools in Gaza have been directly hit or damaged in the war. In June, an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in central Gaza killed at least 33 people, including 12 women and children, according to local health officials.
In its statement, the Israeli army said its air force “struck [a] command and control centre served as a hideout for Hamas terrorists and commanders”.
People inspect the damage at a school after being hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Saturday.Credit: AP
“The IAF [Israel Air Force] precisely struck Hamas terrorists operating within a Hamas command and control centre embedded in the [Tabaeen] school and located adjacent to a mosque in Daraj Tuffah, which serves as a shelter for the residents of Gaza City.
“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and intelligence information.”
Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 39,600 Palestinians and wounded more than 91,700 others, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry. The war was triggered by Hamas’ October 7 attack, in which militants from Gaza stormed into southern Israel, killing around 1200 people and abducting 250 others.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong criticised the attack in a statement on X and again called for a ceasefire.
“Innocent Palestinians cannot continue to pay the price of defeating Hamas,” Wong wrote.
“Australia condemns the deaths of civilians from Israel’s strike on Al-Tabeen School. Israel must comply with international humanitarian law. We again call for an immediate ceasefire.”
The strike in Gaza City drew strong condemnation from the European Union and the United Nations, with Josep Borrell, the top EU diplomat, saying: “There’s no justification for these massacres.”
The latest bloodshed comes amid an increased risk of escalation of a broader Middle East war, following the killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in a phone call on Friday that the escalation of tensions in the Middle East was “in no party’s interest”, while also stressing the need for a Gaza ceasefire, the US State Department said.
Wider war fears
US troops in north-eastern Syria were attacked by a drone, a US official told Reuters on Friday, in another sign of increasing tensions in the region. There were no injuries, according to initial reports.
This is the second attack in recent days against US forces in the Middle East as the region braces for a possible new wave of attacks by Iran and its allies.
Iran’s intentions
Haniyeh, the political leader of Iran-backed Hamas, was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran on July 31, an attack that drew threats of revenge by Iran against Israel, which is fighting the Palestinian Islamist group in Gaza. Iran blamed Israel for the killing.
Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr (left) and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh were both killed recently.
Iran has said the US bears responsibility for the assassination of Haniyeh because of its support for Israel.
“Initial reports do not indicate any injuries, however, medical evaluations are ongoing. We are currently conducting a damage assessment,” the US official said on the condition of anonymity about the attack in Syria.
The attack took place at Rumalyn Landing Zone, which hosts US troops along with those from the US-led coalition.
Five US personnel were injured when two Katyusha rockets were fired at Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq on Monday, an attack the Pentagon blamed on Iran-backed proxies.
The US has 900 troops in Syria and 2500 in neighbouring Iraq, and says the troops are on a mission to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swaths of both countries but was later pushed back.
Iran and Hamas accuse Israel of carrying out Haniyeh’s assassination on July 31. Israel has not claimed or denied responsibility for the killing.
Separately, Iran is accelerating online activity that appears intended to influence the US election, in one case targeting a presidential campaign with an email phishing attack, Microsoft said on Friday.
Iranian players also have spent recent months creating fake news sites and impersonating activists, laying the groundwork to stoke division and potentially sway American voters this fall, especially in swing states, the technology giant found.
The findings in Microsoft’s newest threat intelligence report show how Iran, which has been active in recent American elections, is evolving its tactics for another election that’s likely to have global implications.
Reuters, AP
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