Friends and foes of Israel on Saturday denounced the August, 10, Israeli strike that killed scores of displaced civilians in a Gaza school, renewing calls for an immediate ceasefire.
The attack was the latest of what the UN human rights office called “systematic attacks on schools” by Israel, with at least 21 since July 4 leaving hundreds dead, including women and children.
Gaza’s civil defense agency said the Israeli strike on the Al-Tabieen religious school and mosque in Gaza City killed at least 93 people, 17 of them women and children, making it one of the war’s deadliest strikes.
Israel’s military is now disputing the death toll provided by the Palestinian defense agency, saying the school was targeted with “precision munitions” because it “served as an active Hamas and Islamic Jihad military facility,” adding at said at least 19 “terrorists” had been killed in the strike.
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American “needs to get the hostage out”
A White House statement said it was “deeply concerned about reports of civilian casualties” following the strike and was seeking more information. The strike “underscores the urgency of a ceasefire and hostage deal, which we continue to work tirelessly to achieve”, the statement added.
Vice president Kamala Harris, speaking to reporters traveling with her in Phoenix, Arizona, on Saturday, said of the Israeli strike in Gaza: “Yet again, far too many civilians have been killed.” “Israel has a right to go after the terrorists that are Hamas,” she said. “But as I have said many, many times they also have, I believe, an important responsibility to avoid civilian casualties.”
Pressed on the fact that such comments have done little to lower the numbers of civilians in Gaza killed in recent months, Harris said, “First and foremost – and the president and I have been working on this around the clock – we need to get the hostages out.” “We need a hostage deal and we need a cease-fire,” she said. “And I can’t stress that strongly enough. It needs get to done. The deal needs to get done and it needs to get done now.”
Calls for “respect of international humanitarian law”
British Foreign Minister David Lammy wrote on X that he was “appalled by the Israeli Military strike on al-Tabeen school and the tragic loss of life,” adding that “we need an immediate ceasefire to protect civilians, free all hostages, and end restrictions on aid.”
A statement from the French foreign ministry noted that “for several weeks, school buildings have been repeatedly targeted, with an intolerable number of civilian victims.” “Israel must respect international humanitarian law,” it added.
“Once again we demand the total respect for the provisional measures demanded by the International Court of Justice for the protection of civilian populations,” said the Spanish government.
The European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was “horrified by images from a sheltering school in Gaza hit by an Israeli strike. At least 10 schools were targeted in the last weeks. There’s no justification for these massacres,” Borrell wrote on X.
Reactions in the Arab world
Qatar, a mediator in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, demanded an urgent probe to ascertain the “facts regarding the Israeli occupation forces’ continued targeting of schools and shelters for displaced persons”.
Egypt, which has diplomatic ties with Israel and is also involved in negotiations between the two sides, said the attack was carried out “in disdain of international and humanitarian law” and showed a “lack of willingness on the Israeli side to put an end to this ferocious war.”
Jordan’s foreign ministry said the timing was an indication of Israel’s efforts to “obstruct and thwart” the latest mediation effort.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said the strike “showed once again that Israel does not respect any of the rules and regulations of international law and moral and human principles.” 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”.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah group described the attack as a “horrific massacre” and called for worldwide outrage in solidarity with Palestinians.
“Sabotage” of ceasefire negotiations
“Moscow is deeply shocked by what has happened,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement. “We reaffirm our principled and consistent position on the need for strict compliance with the norms of international humanitarian law. We call on the Israeli side to refrain from attacking civilian objects.”
A Turkish foreign ministry statement decried a “new crime against humanity” and said the attack shows “once again” that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “wants to sabotage permanent ceasefire negotiations”. “The international actors who do not take measures to stop Israel are making themselves complicit in these crimes,” it added.
Source: Le Monde with AP and AFP
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