Saturday dawn, Day 309 of the ongoing genocide of the Palestinians in the devastated Gaza Strip, the Israeli army targeted a school where dozens of families sheltered in Gaza City, killing more than 100, and wounding at least 150, largely children and women; many Palestinians were also killed and injured across the destroyed coastal enclave.
Media sources said the Israeli Airforce targeted the school, in the Sahaba area in the Daraj neighborhood, east of Gaza, with three missiles while hundreds of residents were performing dawn prayers, and the children were sleeping.
The sources stated that the majority of the slain 100 Palestinians and the wounded 150 were children and women, and added that the numbers of casualties are likely higher as rescue teams continue the search under the rubble.
Most of the wounded and evacuated Palestinians, who were moved to the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital suffered life-threatening wounds, while many slain Palestinians remain unidentified as their bodies were severely mutilated and burnt.
The targeting of the school brings the number of schools that housed displaced families and were bombarded by Israel in just one week to six.
This past Thursday, the army targeted the Zahra’ and the Abdul-Fattah Hmoud schools, where hundreds of Palestinians sheltered, killing fifteen and wounding dozens, the majority of whom were children and women.
Graphic footage: A horrific massacre claimed the lives of at least 100 displaced people in an Israeli airstrike on a school in the Al-Daraj neighborhood, central Gaza City. #GazaGenocide pic.twitter.com/kfijE2SLSj
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) August 10, 2024
On August 4, the army targeted the Nasr and Hasan Salama schools in the Nasr neighborhood, west of Gaza City, killing thirty Palestinians and wounding dozens, the majority of whom were children and women.
On August 3rd, the army bombarded Hamama school in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City, killing sixteen Palestinians and wounding dozens.
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) strongly condemned the Israel bombing of the school in Gaza.
“Another day of horror in Gaza… Another school hit with reports of dozens of Palestinians killed among them women, children, and older people,” said the UN official in a brief statement on his X account.
Another day of horror in #Gaza
Another school hit with reports of dozens of Palestinian killed among them women, children and older people.Schools, UN facilities and civilian infrastructure are #NOTaTarget
🛑Parties to the conflict must not use schools & other civilian…
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) August 10, 2024
Lazzarini called for all parties to ensure the protection of civilians and infrastructure at all times, emphasizing that schools, UN facilities, and civilian infrastructure should never be targeted.
The UN chief also urged an end to the ongoing horrors and atrocities and warned that warning that repeated violence erodes collective humanity and should not be normalized.
France condemned the deadly attack on the civilians in the school; the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs stated in a statement, “For several weeks, school buildings have been repeatedly targeted, with an intolerable number of civilian victims,” and added, that “Israel must respect international humanitarian law”.
Also, the Russian Foreign Ministry called on Israel to halt its attacks on civilian targets in Gaza. In a statement, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova expressed profound shock over the deadly Israeli airstrike on the School in Gaza City.
“‘I won’t forgive you, neither in this world nor the next.’
A child from Gaza delivers a message to the world after the Israeli massacre at the displaced persons’ school in Al-Daraj neighborhood in Gaza.” pic.twitter.com/G8oUH2BcBq
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) August 10, 2024
WAFA News agency stated that Zakharova emphasized that such tragedies undermine international efforts to de-escalate the war and to achieve an urgent ceasefire and prisoner exchange.
Zakharova noted with regret that these attacks on Gaza, which result in civilian casualties, appear to be systematic and called on Israel to stop targeting civilian sites. “We believe there is no and can be no justification for such actions,” Zakharova asserted.
Also, several Arab countries, and the Organization of Islamic Conference, today condemned the deadly Israeli massacre early this morning targeting the School in Gaza City.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan were also among many Arab countries that condemned the massacre and demanded an end to the ongoing targeting of civilians, placement centers, schools, and UNRWA facilities.
They called on the International Community to immediately provide international protection to the Palestinian people, end the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and hold Israel accountable for its crimes and violations of International Law and International Humanitarian law.
In related news, seven Palestinians were killed, and many were injured when the army fired missiles at areas, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
In Rafah, in the Gaza Strip’s southmost part, the army fired a missile at a home near the Al-Ferdous School, west of the city, killing two Palestinians and wounding many others.
In the Nusseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza, the army fired a missile at a school, in the western part of the refugee camp, killing at least one Palestinian and wounding many others.
Israel has now killed at least 39.790, and injured at least 91.702, largely children, women, and elderly, in addition to the thousands who remain under the rubble, in several parts of the Gaza Strip, since October 7, 2023.
