Israel’s military carried out an airstrike Thursday on a U.N. school in central Gaza, where Palestinian health officials said at least 37 people were killed.
The Israel Defense Forces said Hamas fighters who participated in the October 7 attack against Israel were using the school as shelter and “directed terror” from the site.
The Hamas media office rejected Israel’s statement and said Israeli forces had carried out a “brutal crime” against displaced people and said 23 women and children are among the dead.
"The occupation uses ... false, fabricated stories to justify the brutal crime it conducted against dozens of displaced people," Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run government media office, told Reuters.
Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner told reporters Israel was not aware of any civilian casualties. He said 20 to 30 fighters were located in the compound.
The strike occurred at a school run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in Nuseirat.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
"He underscores that U.N. premises are inviolable, including during armed conflict, and must be protected by all parties at all times," Dujarric said. "The secretary-general calls on all parties to respect and protect civilians."
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the U.N. relief agency, described the scene as “another horrific day in Gaza.”
He said on the X social media platform that Israel launched the attack without warning, neither to the 6,000 displaced Palestinians staying there, nor to the U.N. agency.
Lazzarini said that the U.N. agency has shared the coordinates of all its Gaza buildings with the Israeli military, including the one hit Thursday, but that even so, 180 of them have been hit during the nearly eight-month war and more than 450 people have been killed in the attacks.
He said the U.N. relief agency could not verify the Israeli claim that Hamas fighters were using the school as a shelter. He said “targeting U.N. premises or using them for military purposes cannot become the new norm. This must stop and all those responsible must be held accountable."
The U.S. government said it expected Israel to be entirely candid in making information about the attack public.
"As a general matter, and as we've said before, Israel has a right to go after Hamas. But we've also been clear that Israel must take every precaution possible and do more to protect civilians," a White House National Security Council spokesperson said.
Nearly a week after U.S. President Joe Biden publicly detailed a proposed six-week cease-fire in Gaza, the United States and 16 other nations issued a joint statement Thursday expressing their support for the deal.
“We call on Hamas to close this agreement, that Israel is ready to move forward with, and begin the process of releasing our citizens,” the statement said.
The proposal includes the release of some of the hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, a surge in humanitarian aid for Palestinians and calls for continued negotiations aimed at achieving a permanent cease-fire.
The joint statement said it is time for the war to end.
“At this decisive moment, we call on the leaders of Israel as well as Hamas to make whatever final compromises are necessary to close this deal and bring relief to the families of our hostages, as well as those on both sides of this terrible conflict, including the civilian populations,” it said.
Aside from the U.S., Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain and Thailand signed the statement.
A senior Hamas official said Thursday that Biden's proposed Gaza cease-fire deal was "just words."
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said Thursday that Hamas had not yet responded to the latest cease-fire proposal and was still examining it.
Hamas sources said there was no new proposal to reply to and that the Israeli proposal was old. They said they rejected the proposal because it did not mention an end to the war or a complete exit from Gaza.
Hamas on October 7 launched a terror attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and capturing about 250 hostages. Hamas is holding about 120 of the hostages in Gaza, although the Israeli military says 37 of them are dead.
Israel's retaliatory bombardments and ground offensive have killed at least 36,600 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The United Nations, in a report released Wednesday, warned that at least 1 million Palestinians would reach the highest level of starvation by mid-July. The heavy restrictions on the flow of food, water, fuel and medical aid are worsening the situation in Gaza, particularly in northern Gaza, the World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization said in their joint report.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
