NEW YORK: At least 100 Palestinians were killed early Saturday morning when the Israeli military bombed the Al-Taba’een school in the Al-Daraj neighbourhood in eastern Gaza .
The strikes hit when people sheltering at the school were performing fajr prayers, leading to many casualties, according to media reports, citing the Palestinian news agency, Wafa.
The school was housing displaced civilians. Dozens were injured in the attack.
Eyewitnesses said they could hear women and children screaming after the bombing but couldn’t reach them.
The attack comes just hours after news that the US is preparing to give $3.5 billion to Israel to purchase American weapons and military equipment from a $14.1 billion supplemental bill approved by Congress in April.
“On Thursday, August 8 the Department notified Congress of our intent to obligate $3.5 billion in FY 2024 Foreign Military Financing using funding provided by the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act,” said a State Department spokesperson.
Nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 91,700 injured, in Israel’s bombing campaign since 7 October 2023, according to local health authorities.
More than ten 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).
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.
Despite appeals on Thursday from mediators, including Egypt, the US, and Qatar, to stop hostilities, reach a cease-fire, and a hostage 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 attributed to Tel Aviv.
