An Israeli airstrike on a Gaza school compound housing displaced families killed around 100 people, the Hamas-run Gaza government said on Saturday. The Israeli military countered by stating that they targeted Hamas militants at the site and cast doubt on the reported death toll. Graphic videos from the scene showed body parts scattered on the ground and bodies being carried away and covered in blankets. Empty food tins, burnt mattresses, and a child’s doll lay amidst the debris. The Hamas-run media office issued a statement alleging that the strikes occurred during dawn prayers, leading to heavy casualties. Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal, in a televised news conference, claimed over 93 martyrs, including 11 children and six women, with unidentified remains. He reported that approximately 6,000 people had been sheltering at the compound. The Gaza health ministry has yet to provide detailed casualty information. The Israeli military, in a Hebrew statement, disputed the death toll, claiming it was inflated. They asserted that around 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants were operating at the site. Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani stated on X (formerly Twitter) that the compound and the mosque within it served as an active Hamas and Islamic Jihad military facility. He added that the initial review indicated discrepancies between the numbers published by the Hamas-run Government Information Office in Gaza and the information held by the IDF (Israel Defence Forces), the specific munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike. A military official clarified that the section of the mosque targeted was a men’s area where no women or children were present. They claimed this was verified through intelligence and that the strike was carried out using three small, precise munitions incapable of causing the scale of damage reported by Palestinians. At the news conference in Gaza City, Bassal insisted that the strike hit both the upper and ground floors of the school. He asserted that the upper floor housed women and children while the ground floor was occupied by people praying. He claimed they were directly hit. Israel maintains that Palestinian militant groups embed themselves among Gaza’s civilians, operating from within schools, hospitals, and designated humanitarian zones, a claim denied by Hamas and its allies. Hamas labelled the strike a horrific crime and a serious escalation. Izzat El-Reshiq, a member of Hamas’s political office, issued a statement asserting that no combatants were among the dead. Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge in Gaza’s schools, most of which have ceased functioning since the outbreak of war ten months ago. A spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, urged Israel’s ally Washington to end its “blind support” that contributes to the killing of innocent civilians, including children, women, and the elderly. Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia condemned the strike, which came amidst mediator efforts to resume ceasefire talks. Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, declared the strike a turning point in their endeavors. Egypt expressed that the killing of Gaza civilians demonstrated Israel’s lack of intent to end the war. Qatar’s foreign ministry described the strike as a “horrific massacre.” A new round of ceasefire negotiations is scheduled for Thursday by Egypt, the United States, and Qatar amidst growing concerns of a broader conflict potentially involving Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to continue the war until Hamas no longer poses a threat to Israelis, stated that a delegation would be sent to the August 15 talks. A Hamas official told Reuters that the group was reviewing the new offer for talks but declined to elaborate further. Israel initiated its offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters infiltrated southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, predominantly civilians, and taking over 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Since then, the Palestinian health ministry reports that nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza. They do not differentiate between combatants and civilians. Health officials assert that most of the fatalities have been civilians. Israel, which has suffered the loss of 329 soldiers in Gaza, maintains that at least a third of the Palestinian casualties are fighters. Iran-backed Hamas refrains from releasing its casualty figures.
