EXCLUSIVE
The Israeli attack on a Gaza City school that killed more than 100 displaced Palestinians was “calculated” to cause widespread loss of life, an Tel Aviv Tribune investigation has revealed.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Sanad fact-checking agency investigated the details of the Israeli attack on Saturday morning on the al-Tabin school in Gaza City, which killed more than 100 people, including women and children.
The investigation determined that the attack was “deliberately timed to cause maximum casualties,” with a “large number of displaced people deliberately targeted,” it said in a statement Tuesday.
To reach his conclusions, Sanad examined survivor testimonies, photos of the remains of bombs used in the attack, images showing how the bombs penetrated the ceilings of the mosque attached to the school, and documents on the immediate aftermath of the explosion.
Based on the evidence, Sanad said the Israeli army fired the two guided missiles used in the attack at the time of dawn prayers.
The missiles “penetrated the roof of the mosque, passed through the first floor, where the women’s chapel is located, and exploded on the ground floor, where the men’s chapel is located,” Sanad said in his report.
The agency added that the fragments of at least two shells used in this targeting were of the American GBU-39 SDB type, as confirmed by weapons expert Trevor Ball. This type of shell is manufactured and exported to the Israeli army by the American company Boeing.
Regarding the location and time of impact of the two guided missiles, Sanad said: “It is clear that the choice was not random.”
“The southern missile fell at the beginning of the chapel area as prayers began, while the northern missile fell in the sleeping area and near the ablutions and toilets where the displaced people were preparing for prayers,” the agency said.
Israeli forces have repeatedly attacked schools used as shelters in Gaza, saying they were used as command centers for Hamas, the Palestinian group that rules the territory, to hide fighters and manufacture weapons. At least five such attacks have been reported this month.
Sanad disputed the Israeli military’s claims that the al-Tabin school attack targeted Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters who it said were in the men’s prayer room at the time.
Tel Aviv Tribune reported that the attacks took place during prayer time at a mosque hosting displaced civilians.
The organization also cites photos and survivor testimonies showing that, contrary to Israeli military claims, gunfire erupted in areas outside the floor that Israel said it had exclusively targeted, killing and maiming civilians.
“The evidence strongly suggests that this was a deliberate and calculated attack aimed at causing mass casualties,” Sanad said.
The attack sparked renewed calls for the United States to end its unwavering support for Israel, including through arms transfers that human rights advocates say fuel atrocities in the Palestinian enclave.
The school “massacre” also comes amid fears that the Gaza war could escalate into a regional conflict following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.
Haniyeh’s assassination comes hours after another Israeli strike in Beirut killed a senior commander of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group in Lebanon.
Iran and its allies have blamed Israel for the killings and vowed revenge.