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Deadly Israeli strike on Gaza City school draws international condemnation
At least 90 people were killed on Saturday in an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people in Gaza City, the Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency said. The attack drew widespread condemnation across the globe, including from Turkey, France and the US, who expressed “deep concern” and underscored the “urgency of a ceasefire and hostage deal”. Israel’s military said it had “precisely struck Hamas terrorists” who were using the school as a base. Read our blog to see how the day’s events unfolded.
Issued on: 10/08/2024 – 07:16
Modified: 10/08/2024 – 22:51
2 min
Displaced Palestinians watch as first responders prepare to transport corpses of people killed in an Israeli strike on a school in Gaza City on August 10, 2024.
Displaced Palestinians watch as first responders prepare to transport corpses of people killed in an Israeli strike on a school in Gaza City on August 10, 2024. © Omar al-Qataa, AFP
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FRANCE 24
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Summary:
At least 90 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people in Gaza City, the besieged Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency said on Saturday.
The Israeli military defended the attack in a statement, saying “at least 19 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists” were killed and that the munitions used “cannot cause the amount of damage” being reported in Gaza.
International condemnation has followed Israel’s deadly strike on the Tabeen school complex. Turkey called it a “new crime against humanity”, France “firmly condemned” the strike, the UK said it was “appalled” by the attack and the US expressed “deep concern” and underscored the “urgency of a ceasefire and hostage deal.”
Hamas denounced a “dangerous escalation” on Saturday after the Israeli strike.
At least 39,790 Palestinians have been killed and 92,002 injured in Israel’s war in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. The Hamas-led October 7 attacks resulted in the deaths of more than 1,190 people, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures. Some 250 people were taken hostage, with about 120 remaining in Gaza. Many have been declared dead by Israeli authorities.
Last to first
5 hours ago
Jordan’s foreign minister says we will not be a battlefield for any party
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Saturday that the kingdom would not be a battlefield for any party, adding that the current conflict in the region was essentially action and reaction between Israel and Iran.
He also reiterated that Jordan will not allow the violation of its airspace.
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5 hours ago
Hezbollah says it launched ‘squadrons of drones’ at Israel
Lebanon’s Iran-back Hezbollah group said it launched on Saturday explosive-laden drones at a north Israel army base following the killing of a Hamas commander in south Lebanon a day earlier.
Hezbollah fighters launched “squadrons of explosive-laden drones” at an Israeli base near the town of Safed “in response to the attack and assassination carried out by the Israeli enemy in the city of Sidon” on Friday, the group said in a statement.
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6 hours ago
Israel says ‘at least 19’ Palestinian militants killed in Gaza school strike
The Israeli military said at least 19 Palestinian militants were killed Saturday in a pre-dawn strike on a school compound in Gaza City, where rescuers reported 93 dead.
“It can be confirmed at this time that at least 19 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists were eliminated” in the strike on Al-Tabieen religious school, the military said in a statement, giving the names of the alleged militants it said had been killed.
The military said the militants were operating from a Hamas command and control centre located in the compound in order to plan attacks against Israel and its security forces.
“The strike was carried out using three precise munitions,” it said, adding that “no severe damage was caused to the compound where the terrorists were situated”.
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6 hours ago
White House says US is ‘deeply concerned’ after deadly Israeli strike on Gaza school
The White House said Saturday it was “deeply concerned” about civilian casualties after an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza school housing displaced Palestinians that rescuers said killed more than 90 people.
“We are deeply concerned about reports of civilian casualties in Gaza” following the strike, National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement, adding that the US was “asking for further details.”
He said the strike, which has sparked international condemnation, “underscores the urgency of a ceasefire and hostage deal, which we continue to work tirelessly to achieve.”
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8 hours ago
‘Battle of narratives’ follows deadly Israeli strike on Gaza school
An Israeli air strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City killed at least 93 people, according to the civil defence agency in the Hamas-run territory. But “as so often in this conflict,” explains FRANCE 24’s Jerusalem correspondent Irris Makler, “there is a battle of narratives.”
Israel claims Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants were sheltering in the school and disputes the civil defence’s numbers.
The deadly attack has drawn condemnation from several countries, including from Turkey and Egypt, which said on Saturday that “this attack means Israel is not interested in continuing the ceasefire talks”, Makler said.
“But that is not the view on the ground,” she explains. “We are hearing that both Israel and Hamas are interested.”
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9 hours ago
Iran condemns ‘barbaric’ Israeli strike on Gaza City school
Iran condemned a “barbaric” Israeli air strike on a school in Gaza housing displaced Palestinians that left more than 90 dead, according to the territory’s civil defence, calling it a “war crime”.
The attack on Saturday showed once again that Israel “does not respect any of the rules and regulations of international law and moral and human principles”, foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement.
He said the strike was “a clear example of the simultaneous perpetration of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity” by Israel.
Kanani called for “firm action by Muslim and freedom-loving countries around the world to support the Palestinian nation and its legitimate struggles and resistance against the occupation”.
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9 hours ago
France ‘firmly condemns’ deadly Israeli strike on Gaza City school, says foreign ministry
France condemned “as firmly as possible” the deadly Israeli strike on a school complex in Gaza early on Saturday that killed more than 90 people, according to the civil defence in the Palestinian territory.
“France condemns as firmly as possible the Israeli strike that targeted … the Tabeen school in Gaza City,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “For several weeks, school buildings have been targeted repeatedly, with an intolerable number of civilian victims.
“France recalls that Israel must respect international humanitarian law.
“France reiterates its call for the unconditional and immediate release of all hostages and for an immediate ceasefire in view of the humanitarian emergency in Gaza.”
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10 hours ago
UK ‘appalled’ by Israeli strike on Gaza school
Foreign Minister David Lammy on Saturday said that Britain was “appalled” at Israel’s deadly air strike on a school in Gaza and called for “an immediate ceasefire”.
“Appalled by the Israeli Military strike on al-Tabeen school and the tragic loss of life,” Lammy wrote on X, adding: “We need an immediate ceasefire to protect civilians, free all hostages, and end restrictions on aid.”
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11 hours ago
Turkey calls Gaza school strike a ‘new crime against humanity’
Turkey on Saturday denounced a “new crime against humanity” after Israel’s deadly pre-dawn strike on a school in Gaza, according to a foreign ministry statement.
“Israel has committed a new crime against humanity by massacring more than a hundred civilians who had taken refuge in a school,” the ministry said, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of wanting “to sabotage ceasefire negotiations”.
Ninety-three people were killed in the strike on the school, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.
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11 hours ago
Qatar calls for international probe into Israeli strikes on Gaza schools
Qatar, a mediator in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, on Saturday demanded an urgent probe after the latest Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians.
The foreign ministry said it renews the Gulf emirate’s “demand for an urgent international investigation, including the dispatch of independent UN investigators, to ascertain the facts regarding the Israeli occupation forces’ continued targeting of schools and shelters for displaced persons”.
At least 14 schools in Gaza sheltering displaced people have been hit by Israeli strikes since July 6, killing more than 280 people, according to an AFP tally on Saturday.
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11 hours ago
Top EU diplomat Borrell ‘horrified’ by Gaza school strike
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Saturday expressed horror at a deadly strike by Israel on a school housing displaced people in Gaza.
“Horrified by images from a sheltering school in Gaza hit by an Israeli strike, with reportedly dozens of Palestinian victims. At least 10 schools were targeted in the last weeks. There’s no justification for these massacres,” Borrell said on X.
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11 hours ago
Top Iraqi Shiite cleric warns of risk of Middle East escalation
Iraq’s top Shiite Muslim cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani warned Saturday of the risk of a regional escalation with potentially “catastrophic consequences” following the killing of two Iran-backed militant leaders.
Sistani also urged an end to the “genocidal war” in Gaza, where the civil defence agency said an Israeli air strike Saturday on a school housing displaced Palestinians killed more than 90 people.
“Once again, the Israeli occupation army has committed a huge massacre … adding to its series of ongoing crimes” in Gaza, Sistani said in a rare statement since the start of the 10-month-old war.
The recent high-profile killings of two leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah increased the danger of “major clashes” that could have “catastrophic consequences” for the region, he warned.
“We once again call on the world to stand against this terrible brutality,” Sistani said, urging Muslims “to unite in order to press for an end to the genocidal war” in Gaza.
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12 hours ago
At least 39,790 Palestinians have been killed during the war in Gaza, says health ministry
At least 39,790 Palestinians have been killed and 92,002 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip since October 7, the Palestinian territory’s Hamas-run health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
The toll includes 91 deaths in the previous 48 hours, according to ministry figures, which do not appear to include Saturday’s pre-dawn Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people in Gaza City, which killed at least 93 people according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.
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13 hours ago
After school strike, UN rapporteur accuses Israel of ‘genocide’
An independent UN-appointed expert accused Israel of committing “genocide” in its Gaza war after an Israeli strike targeting a school on Saturday killed at least 90 people, according to local rescuers.
“Israel is genociding the Palestinians one neighbourhood at the time, one hospital at the time, one school at the time, one refugee camp at the time, one safe zone at the time,” Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, said on X.
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16 hours ago
Israel says about 20 Hamas, Islamic Jihad militants were at Gaza school hit by military
Around 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants were operating from the Gaza City school that was struck by the Israeli air force on Saturday, an Israeli military spokesperson said.
“The compound, and the mosque that was struck within it, served as an active Hamas and Islamic Jihad military facility,” Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said on X.
He added that casualty figures given by the Hamas-run media office “do not align with the information held by the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces), the precise munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike”.
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16 hours ago
Hamas says Israeli strike on school a ‘dangerous escalation’
Hamas denounced a “dangerous escalation” on Saturday after an Israeli strike on a school in Gaza killed between 90 and 100 people, according to the territory’s civil defence agency.
“The massacre at Al-Tabieen School in the Daraj neighbourhood in central Gaza City is a horrific crime that constitutes a dangerous escalation,” Hamas said in a statement.
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17 hours ago
Egypt says Israel lacks political will to end Gaza war
Egypt said on Saturday Israel’s “deliberate killing” of unarmed Palestinians shows that it lacks a political will to end the war in Gaza.
Egypt’s foreign ministry statement came after more than 90 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a Gaza school sheltering displaced people, according to the official Palestinian news agency.
The Israeli army said it had hit a Hamas command centre.
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18 hours ago
US says it destroyed Houthi missile launcher, uncrewed surface vessel in Yemen
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Friday its forces destroyed a Houthi missile launcher and an uncrewed surface vessel in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen in the previous 24 hours.
The forces also destroyed two Houthi uncrewed aerial vehicles over the Red Sea, CENTCOM said on X.
“These weapons presented a clear and imminent threat to U.S. and coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region,” CENTCOM added.
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18 hours ago
Gaza civil defence says 90 killed in Israeli strike on school
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Saturday at least 90 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people in the besieged Palestinian territory. The death toll earlier Saturday stood at 40.
The agency said three Israeli rockets hit the school in Gaza City, describing the incident as a “horrific massacre”, with some bodies catching fire.
Israel’s army said Saturday it had “precisely struck Hamas terrorists operating within a Hamas command and control centre embedded in the Al-Taba’een school”.
The strike comes two days after Gazan authorities said more than 18 people were killed in Israeli strikes on two other schools in Gaza City, with the military saying at the time it had struck Hamas command centres.
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18 hours ago
Gaza civil defence says Israeli strike on school kills 40
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Saturday an Israeli strike hit a school in Gaza City, killing 40 people.
“Forty martyrs and dozens wounded after the Israeli bombing of the Al-Tabai’een school in the Al-Sahaba area in Gaza City,” agency spokesman Mahmoud Basal said in a post on Telegram.
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18 hours ago
US troops in Syria attacked by a drone, no initial reports of injuries, says official
US troops in northeastern Syria were attacked by a drone, a US official told Reuters on Friday, adding there were no injuries according to initial reports.
This is the second attack in recent days against US forces in the Middle East as the region braces for a possible new wave of attacks by Iran and its allies.
“Initial reports do not indicate any injuries, however medical evaluations are ongoing. We are currently conducting a damage assessment,” the US official said on condition of anonymity about the attack in Syria.
The attack took place at Rumalyn Landing Zone, which hosts US troops along with those from the US-led coalition.
Five US personnel were injured when two Katyusha rockets were fired at Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq on Monday, an attack the Pentagon blamed on Iran-backed proxies.
The United States has 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in neighbouring Iraq, who it says are on a mission to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State group, which in 2014 seized large swaths of both countries but was later pushed back.
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19 hours ago
Blinken tells Israel’s Gallant that escalations in the Middle East serve no one
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in a phone call on Friday that the escalation of tensions in the Middle East was “in no party’s interest” while also stressing the need for a Gaza ceasefire, the State Department said.
“The Secretary reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and discussed how escalation is in no party’s interest,” the State Department said in a statement.
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19 hours ago
Iran set to carry out supreme leader’s order to ‘harshly punish’ Israel, Guards deputy chief says
Iran is set to carry out an order by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to “harshly punish” Israel over the assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran, a Revolutionary Guards deputy commander was quoted as saying on Friday by local news agencies.
“The supreme leader’s orders regarding the harsh punishment of Israel and revenge for the blood of martyr Ismail Haniyeh are clear and explicit … and they will be implemented in the best possible way,” said Ali Fadavi, cited by Iranian media.
Iran and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas accuse Israel of carrying out Haniyeh’s assassination on July 31. Israel has not claimed or denied responsibility for the killing, which has fuelled further concern that the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip is turning into a wider Middle East war.
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19 hours ago
Welcome to FRANCE 24’s liveblog on the Israel-Hamas war.
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Yesterday’s key developments:
Israel agreed to resume Gaza ceasefire talks on August 15 at the demand of US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office said overnight Friday.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in a phone call on Friday, during which Macron reaffirmed his calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
An Israeli air strike on a car deep inside Lebanon killed a senior figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas on Friday evening.
Israel launched another offensive on the devastated southern city of Khan Younis on Friday as thousands of Palestinians fled the area following the military’s evacuation orders.
About casualty figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry:
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent. For more on the health ministry’s casualty figures, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)
