Deadly Israeli attack on school in Gaza – ceasefire talks continue
In summary:
At least 16 people were killed in an Israeli attack on a school in central Gaza that housed displaced Palestinian families, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The attack came after Hamas said it had accepted a US proposal to begin talks on the release of Israeli hostages.
What’s next:
The Israeli military said it was investigating the incident.
The Israeli military says it is investigating Palestinian claims that a military strike hit a school in central Gaza that housed displaced civilians, killing at least 16 people.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said more than 50 people were injured in the attack on the school in Al-Nuseirat.
A video from the scene of the accident shows screaming people running through a street covered in dust and debris to get to the dead and injured.
Eyewitnesses said the attack hit the upper floor of a school in the camp in central Gaza that was crowded with thousands of people.
Among the dead and injured were children.
The Israeli military said it targeted armed men operating in the area after taking precautions to minimize the risk to civilians.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for the Gaza Emergency Services, said in a statement that the death toll could rise as many of the injured were in critical condition.
Al-Nuseirat, one of the eight historic refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, was the scene of increased Israeli bombing on Saturday.
According to paramedics, at least ten people were killed and many others injured in an earlier air raid on a house in the camp.
The Gaza Strip’s Health Ministry said in its daily death toll report from the nearly nine-month-long war that at least 29 Palestinians had been killed and 100 others injured in Israeli military strikes across the enclave within 24 hours.
Five local journalists were among those killed in Saturday’s airstrikes, bringing the number of journalists killed since October 7 to 158, according to the Hamas-run government media office in the Gaza Strip.
According to health authorities in the Gaza Strip, more than 38,000 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli offensive.
The Ministry of Health makes no distinction between combatants and non-combatants, but according to official figures, most of the dead are civilians.
Israel has lost 323 soldiers in Gaza and says at least a third of the Palestinians killed were fighters.
Israel launched its offensive aimed at eliminating the militant Islamist group Hamas in response to a Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7 in which Israeli officials said 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage.
Hamas says it has accepted US hostage deal proposal
The attack came after Hamas said it had accepted a US proposal to start talks on the release of Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, 16 days after the first phase of an agreement to end the Gaza war.
A senior Hamas source told Reuters the militant Islamist group had dropped its demand that Israel commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the deal, saying it would allow negotiations to take place during the first six-week period to achieve this.
A Palestinian official close to the internationally mediated peace efforts said the proposal, if accepted by Israel, could lead to a framework agreement and end the nine-month war.
A source from the Israeli negotiating team, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Friday that there was now a real chance of an agreement.
This stands in sharp contrast to previous incidents in the nine-month Gaza war, when Israel declared the conditions imposed by Hamas unacceptable.
Hezbollah member killed in attack in Lebanon
On Israel’s northern border, the army said it had killed a key official in Hezbollah’s air defense unit in eastern Lebanon and accused him of carrying out numerous attacks against Israelis.
In a statement, the army identified the Hezbollah member as Meitham Mustafa Altaar and said he had visited Iran several times “where he gained knowledge and helped build Hezbollah’s forces and Iranian weapons arsenal.”
Lebanese state media reported that Altaar’s car was attacked in a drone strike in the town of Shaath, north of the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek.
Hezbollah confirmed the killing of the 33-year-old, but gave no further details about his role in the movement.
The Iran-backed group and Israel have been engaged in hostilities for nearly nine months, parallel to the Gaza conflict and fuelling fears of a full-scale war between the heavily armed opponents.
Hezbollah said its rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel were aimed at supporting Palestinians under Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip.
ABC/Wires
Canadian airline WestJet cancels at least 235 flights after surprise strike by mechanics union
Airbnb’s new icon feature lets you book stays at famous homes and pop culture locations
New York man wanted for hit-and-run after gruesome murder of elderly woman is caught after nearly five years on the run
About The Author
