Israel strike on Gaza school shelter kills around 100 people, Hamas-run media office says

[August 10, 2024]  CAIRO (Reuters) - An Israeli airstrike on a Gaza school compound housing displaced families killed around 100 people, the Hamas-run Gaza government said on Saturday, while the Israeli military said it targeted Hamas militants there and cast doubt on the death toll.

Video from the site showed body parts scattered on the ground and more bodies being carried away and covered in blankets on the floor. Empty food tins lay in a puddle of blood and burnt mattresses and a child's doll among the debris.

The Hamas-run media office said in a statement that the strikes hit when people sheltering at the school were performing dawn prayers, leading to many casualties.

"So far, there are more than 93 martyrs, including 11 children and six women. There are unidentified remains," said Palestinian Civil Defense spokesperson, Mahmoud Bassal, in a televised news conference.

Around 6,000 people had been sheltering at the compound, he said. The Gaza health ministry has so far not provided casualty details.

In a statement in Hebrew the Israeli military said the death toll was inflated. It said around 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants were operating at the site.

"The compound, and the mosque that was struck within it, served as an active Hamas and Islamic Jihad military facility," Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said on X.

"According to an initial review, the numbers published by the Hamas-run Government Information Office in Gaza, do not align with the information held by the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), the precise munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike," Shoshani said.

A military official said that the part of the mosque struck was a men's area where no women or children were present.

"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," the official said.

At the news conference in Gaza City, 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 - which 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."

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City, August 10, 2024. REUTERS/Abed Sabah

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought shelter in Gaza's schools, most of which have stopped functioning since the start of the war 10 months ago.

NEW ROUND OF CEASEFIRE TALKS

A spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, urged Israel's ally Washington to put an end to the "blind support that leads to the killing of thousands of innocent civilians, including children, women, and the elderly."

Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia condemned the strike, which came as mediators were pushing to resume ceasefire talks. Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the strike should serve as a turning point in their efforts.

Egypt said that the killing of Gaza civilians showed Israel had no intention to end the war. Qatar's foreign ministry described the strike as a "horrific massacre".

Egypt, the United States and Qatar have scheduled a new round of ceasefire negotiations for Thursday, as fears are growing of a broader conflict, involving Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said he will not end the war until Hamas no longer poses a threat to Israelis, said a delegation would be sent to the Aug. 15 talks.

A Hamas official told Reuters the group was studying the new offer for talks but did not elaborate.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Health officials say most of the fatalities have been civilians. Israel, which has lost 329 soldiers in Gaza, says at least a third of the Palestinian fatalities are fighters. Iran-backed Hamas does not publish its casualties.

(Reporting by Ali Swafta, Nidal al-Mughrabi; Muhammad Al Gebaly, Hatem Maher, Ahmed Tolba and Maayan Lubell; Editing by William Mallard, Miral Fahmy, Mark Potter and Ros Russell)

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