Gaza civil defence says 90 killed in Israeli strike on school

GAZA: Gaza’s civil defence agency said Saturday at least 90 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people in the besieged Palestinian territory.

The agency said three Israeli rockets hit the school in Gaza City, describing the incident as a “horrific massacre”, with some bodies catching fire.

Israel’s army said Saturday it had “precisely struck Hamas terrorists operating within a Hamas command and control center embedded in the Al-Taba’een school”.

The strike comes two days after Gazan authorities said more than 18 people were killed in Israeli strikes on two other schools in Gaza City, with the military saying at the time it had struck Hamas command centres.

Iran has said that Israel wants to spread war in the Middle East, and Hamas officials, some analysts and critics in Israel have said Netanyahu has prolonged the fighting for political gain.

During 10 months of war across the Gaza Strip, the military has found itself returning to some areas to fight the militants again.

“Enough!” shouted Khan Yunis resident Ahmed al-Najjar. “Have mercy on us, for God’s sake, the young children and women are dying in the streets. Enough!”

Israel’s military said Friday that troops were operating around Khan Yunis, the southern Gaza city from which soldiers had withdrawn in April after months of fierce fighting with Hamas.

After the military issued an evacuation order for parts of the city, AFPTV images showed a crowd of people flowing through dusty, damaged streets on foot or on donkey and motorcycle carts piled with belongings.

“We’ve been displaced 15 times,” said Mohammed Abdeen.

By Friday, the United Nations humanitarian office OCHA estimated that “at least 60,000 Palestinians may have moved towards western Khan Yunis in the past 72 hours”, UN spokeswoman Florencia Soto Nino said.

Ceasefire push

There has been only one, week-long truce in the Gaza fighting, in November.

US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have for months tried to secure a second one.

In a joint statement Thursday, the three countries’ leaders invited the warring parties to resume talks on August 15 in Doha or Cairo “to close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay”.

Netanyahu’s office said Israel would send negotiators “to conclude the details of implementing a deal”.

Hamas has yet to publicly comment on the mediators’ invitation.

Fears of regional war

The Gaza war has already pulled in Iran-aligned groups in the region, and fears of a broader Middle East war have surged following vows of vengeance for the killing of two senior militants, including Hamas’s political leader.

The killing last week of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh during a visit to Tehran had sidelined truce talks. Iran and Hamas blamed Israel, which has not directly commented.

Haniyeh’s killing came hours after an Israeli strike on Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, the military chief of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement. Israel said it was in response to deadly rocket fire on the annexed Golan Heights.

Hamas ally Hezbollah has been trading near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces.