The minaret of a mosque stands in al-Zawayda as an Israeli military helicopter flies over the central Gaza Strip on August 8, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (Eyad Baba/AFP)
- At least 90 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a
school in Gaza City, which was housing displaced people, according to the Gaza civil
defence agency. - The Israeli army claimed the strike targeted Hamas
terrorists operating within the school. - International mediators, including the US, Qatar, and
Egypt, are pushing for a ceasefire and have invited the warring parties to
resume talks.
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 centre 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.
Israel has vowed to destroy the Palestinian group in
retaliation for its 7 October attack, but agreed to resume talks next week at
the request of international mediators following intense diplomacy aimed at
averting a region-wide conflagration.
Iran has claimed 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around Khan Yunis, the southern Gaza city from which soldiers had withdrawn in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 spokesperson 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 15 August 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”.
FOLLOW IT LIVE | DEVELOPING: UK calls for Israel and Hamas to agree ceasefire deal
Hamas has yet to publicly comment on the mediators’
invitation.
Recent discussions have focused on a framework outlined by
US President Joe Biden in late May and later endorsed by the UN Security
Council.
The war in Gaza began with the October Hamas attack that
resulted in the deaths of 1 198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP
tally based on Israeli official figures.
Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are
still held in Gaza, including 39 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at
least 39 699 people, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry,
which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, in talks with his US
counterpart Lloyd Austin, “raised the importance of swiftly
achieving” a hostage release deal, Gallant’s office said.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on social media platform
X: “We need a ceasefire in Gaza now.
“I strongly support the efforts led by the US, Egypt,
and Qatar to help achieve the peace and stability the region needs.”
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.
Two Hezbollah fighters were killed Friday, the group said,
as was a Hamas commander from south Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camp of Ain
al-Helweh, Hamas and the Israeli military said.
Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran and others vowed retaliation for the
Shukr and Haniyeh killings, sending fears of a regional war soaring and
triggering intensive efforts to halt the cycle of violence.
The United States, which has sent extra warships and jets to
the region to support Israel, has urged both Iran and Israel to avoid an
escalation.
A senior Biden administration official, requesting
anonymity, told reporters that Israel had been “very receptive” to
the idea of fresh truce talks, though “a significant amount of work”
remains.
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