Israel says deadly strike hit ‘Hamas compound’ in UN school
Israel has launched airstrikes against a UN school said to be housing Hamas fighters, with the militants saying the attack killed at least 37 people.
Israel has launched airstrikes against a UN school said to be housing Hamas fighters, with the militant group saying the attack killed at least 37 people.
The military said it “eliminated” several “terrorists” after its jets “conducted a precise strike on a Hamas compound embedded inside an UNRWA school in the area of Nuseirat”, in central Gaza. UNRWA is the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
Hamas responded by accusing Israel of a “horrific massacre … that shames humanity”.
UNRWA, which co-ordinates almost all aid to Gaza, has been in crisis since January, when Israel accused about a dozen of its employees in the territory of being involved in the October 7 attacks that killed 1194 people, mostly civilians.
Video and photographs later emerged of armed UNRWA employees alongside Hamas fighters in Israel on October 7.
The aid group’s chief, Philippe Lazzarini, said last week that Israel “must stop its campaign against UNRWA”.
Israel has frequently accused Hamas and its allies in Gaza of using schools, health facilities and other civilian infrastructure as operational centres – charges the militants deny.
The latest strike came as US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators resumed talks on Wednesday to try to secure a truce and hostage release deal.
US President Joe Biden last week outlined what he called a three-phase Israeli plan to halt the fighting for six weeks while hostages held by militants in Gaza are exchanged for Palestinian prisoners and aid is stepped up.
G7 powers and Arab states have backed the proposal announced by Mr Biden, although sticking points remain – Hamas insists on a permanent truce and full Israeli withdrawal, demands that Israel has flatly rejected.
A source with knowledge of the negotiations confirmed that a meeting took place on Wednesday “between the Qatari Prime Minister and head of Egyptian intelligence with Hamas in Qatari capital Doha to discuss a deal for a truce in Gaza and the exchange of hostages and prisoners”.
Mr Biden has urged Hamas to accept the deal and has deployed CIA chief Bill Burns to Qatar, where the group’s political bureau is based, for a renewed push after months of negotiations.
The source said Mr Burns would “continue working with mediators on reaching an agreement between Hamas and Israel on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages”.
Tensions have also spiralled elsewhere in the region between Israel and its allies on the one hand, and Iran-backed armed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen on the other.
The Israeli army and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement have traded near-daily cross-border fire, causing deaths, forcing mass evacuations and igniting wildfires on both sides.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel was “prepared for a very intense operation” along the border with Lebanon and that “one way or another, we will restore security to the north”.
The US appeared to warn Israel against taking action on Thursday, with the State Department saying that any “escalation” there would risk Israeli security.
The violence since early October has killed at least 455 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but including 88 civilians.
On the Israeli side, the army says at least 14 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed.
AFP
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