The White House said it was “deeply concerned” about reports of civilian deaths in Gaza linked to an Israeli attack on a school in Gaza City that killed at least 80 people, and that the attack “underscores the urgency of a ceasefire.”
“We are deeply concerned by reports that the IDF has struck targets, including schools, resulting in civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip,” NSC spokesman Sean Sabet said in a statement to The Hill. “We are in contact with our Israeli counterparts, who have stated they have targeted senior Hamas officials, to request more details.”
“This underscores the urgency of a ceasefire and hostage agreement, and we continue to work tirelessly to achieve it,” Savet added.
Israel claims the school is a Hamas headquarters and that the attack killed senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters.
“According to Israeli intelligence, around 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters, including senior commanders, operated from the compound that attacked Al-Tabain school and carried out the terror attack,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Nadav Shoshani said. I wrote it.
The US is aware that Hamas has used schools in the past, but Israel must try to minimize civilian casualties, Thabet added.
“While we are aware that Hamas uses schools as venues for meetings and activities, we have repeatedly and consistently maintained that Israel must take measures to minimize civilian harm,” he wrote.
At least 11 women and children killed in Israeli school attack. According to the statement: The Gaza Civil Defense provided this to The Washington Post.
A spokesman for Hamas’s Civil Defense told The Associated Press that three missiles hit the school and mosque early Saturday morning.
The school is also housing around 6,000 displaced people seeking shelter.
Israel carried out the school strikes after acceding to pressure from the United States, Egypt and Qatar for Israel and Hamas to continue negotiations to secure a ceasefire and the release of hostages, with the United States claiming the agreement is the “closest” yet.
“This proposal can only get done if both sides have a good proposal and both sides are open to it,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “We believe we have the closest relationship we’ve ever had.”
Two other intermediary countries, Egypt and Qatar, also condemned the Israeli attack, with Egypt saying it was “clear evidence of the lack of political will on the Israeli side to end this brutal war.”
“The Arab Republic of Egypt condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli bombing of the “Al-Tabi’in” school, a shelter for displaced people, in the Al-Daraj neighborhood in the east of Gaza City, which left more than 100 Palestinian civilians dead and dozens injured,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. He said in a statement.
“Egypt considered the continued perpetration of these large-scale crimes and the deliberate killing of so many unarmed civilians every time intermediaries intensified their efforts for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as clear evidence of the lack of political will on the Israeli side to end this brutal war,” the ministry continued.
Qatar Called for a strike It was a “horrific genocide” and a “flagrant violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.”
“The State of Qatar reiterates its call for an urgent international investigation, with an independent UN inspector to investigate the ongoing attacks by Israeli occupation forces on schools and displaced persons’ shelters,” the statement continued.
Kirby on Friday strongly criticized Israel’s controversial Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for issuing a lengthy statement calling for new negotiations a “capitulation to Hamas.”
Kirby’s comments reflect growing frustration with Israel as President Biden seeks to broker a ceasefire, with the administration saying it needs significant concessions from Hamas and Israel.
