Israel kills at least 100 Palestinians in Gaza school bombing during prayers

ISTANBUL (AA) – At least 100 Palestinians were killed early Saturday when the Israeli military bombed the Al-Taba’een school in the Al-Daraj neighborhood in eastern Gaza City.

The school was housing displaced residents. Dozens more were injured in the attack.

Israeli military aircraft targeted the school while worshippers were performing the fajr (dawn) prayer, the Palestinian news agency, Wafa reported.

The Government Media Office in Gaza condemned the “massacre,” saying that the attack is “part of a broader campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people.”

In a statement, the office said: “The occupation army directly targeted displaced civilians while performing fajr (dawn) prayers, (which) led to a rapid rise in the number of casualties.”

It placed “full responsibility for the massacre on the Israeli occupation and the US administration.”

The media office also urged the international community and global organizations to “put pressure on Israel to stop the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing of civilians and displaced people in the Gaza Strip.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli army claimed the school contained an “operating military headquarters” for Hamas.

It claimed that “several steps were taken to minimize the risk of civilian harm.”

With the bombing of Al-Taba’een School, the total number of schools targeted by the Israeli army in Gaza City over the past week has increased to six, according to an Anadolu tally.

Despite appeals from mediators, including Egypt, the US, and Qatar, to stop attacks, reach a cease-fire, and a prisoner exchange agreement, Israel persists with its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip.

This escalation came amid threats of retaliation by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group following the assassination of its top commander, Fuad Shukr, in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut on July 30 and Iran’s threats to retaliate after the assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, an attack blamed on Tel Aviv.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed nearly 39,700 people since last October following a cross-border attack by Hamas.

More than 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.