Anika Begay
CAIRO (Reuters) – More than 100 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli attack on a Gaza school housing displaced people, the Hamas-led Gaza government said on Saturday, with an air strike the Israeli military said targeted a Hamas command center.
The attacks occurred when people who had taken refuge in the school were performing dawn prayers, causing many casualties, the Hamas press office said in a statement. Medics have not yet been able to reach all the bodies, it said.
There was no immediate information from Gaza health authorities.
The Israeli military said in a statement that its air force targeted a command and control center where Hamas fighters were hiding.
The military said it had taken measures to reduce the risk of harm to civilians, “including the use of accurate munitions, aerial surveillance and intelligence.” It did not immediately comment on casualty reports from Gaza.
Hamas has said the attack was a horrific crime and a serious escalation. Israel says the militant group has infiltrated Gaza’s civilians, operating inside schools, hospitals and designated humanitarian zones, which Hamas denies.
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, which came as mediators pushed to resume ceasefire talks, and said the killing of Gaza civilians showed Israel had no intention of ending the war.
Egypt, the United States and Qatar have scheduled a new round of ceasefire talks for Thursday, as fears grow of a wider 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 August 15 talks.
A Hamas official told Reuters that the group was studying the new offer for talks, but gave no further details.
Israel launched the assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters swept into southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli counts.
Since then, some 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive on Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Health officials say most of the victims are civilians. Israel, which has lost 329 people in Gaza, says at least a third of Palestinian casualties are fighters. Iran-backed Hamas does not publish its casualties.
