The Israeli army has stepped up its attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 77 Palestinians, including dozens of people sheltering in a school, in one of the deadliest days the enclave has seen in recent weeks.
Tuesday’s attacks come as Hamas warns that an intensified Israeli offensive could jeopardize mediated ceasefire negotiations, a new round of which is due to begin in the Qatari capital, Doha.
In the town of Abbasan, east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, an Israeli airstrike on al-Awdah school killed at least 30 people and wounded 53, mostly women and children, Palestinian medics said.
Exclusive footage from the school, obtained by Tel Aviv Tribune, shows young Palestinians playing football in the courtyard of the building as dozens of people look on. Then a loud explosion rings out, forcing people to run for cover.
A young Palestinian man told Tel Aviv Tribune that he lost several family members in the attack. “We were sitting and a missile fell and destroyed everything,” he said, sobbing. “I lost my uncle, my cousins and my family.”
The Israeli military said it was examining the report.
Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces also shelled the Bureij camp, killing at least 17 people, including 14 children. Israeli forces also attacked a house in the center of Deir el-Balah, killing three others.
Hamas described the attack on al-Awda school as an “extension of the war of extermination waged against our people by the Zionist terrorist government” and called on the people of Arab and Muslim countries to intensify their protests against the war.
Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, also condemned the attack, saying in a message on X: “For how long will innocent civilians bear the brunt of this conflict?”
He added: “It is imperative to achieve an immediate ceasefire to bring respite to hundreds of stranded civilians, free all hostages and provide necessary humanitarian assistance.”
It is imperative that an immediate ceasefire be reached to bring relief to hundreds of stranded civilians, free all hostages and deliver necessary humanitarian aid.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) July 9, 2024
New pressure for a ceasefire
The attacks come as CIA Director William Burns and Israeli Mossad chief David Barnea prepare to travel to Qatar on Wednesday, after Burns held talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo seeking a ceasefire in Gaza.
The renewed efforts come after Hamas made concessions last week, including dropping a key demand that Israel commit to ending the war before signing a ceasefire deal. Instead, Hamas said it would press for the move in negotiations scheduled for an initial six-week ceasefire.
But Ismail Haniyeh, the group’s leader, said Monday that the escalation of Israeli aggression threatened the talks at a crucial moment and could send negotiations “back to square one.”
Haniyeh, who held talks with Qatari and Egyptian mediators, issued a statement warning of “the dire repercussions of what is happening in Gaza City, Rafah and other areas of the Gaza Strip.”
He stressed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “his army bear full responsibility for the failure of this path of negotiation.”
Meanwhile, in northern Gaza City, residents said Israeli tanks were entering the Tal al-Hawa, Shujayea and Sabra neighborhoods, shelling roads and buildings, and forcing them to flee their homes. These attacks were followed by Israeli military orders to evacuate several neighborhoods in eastern and western Gaza City, including these neighborhoods, posted on social media.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams had received dozens of humanitarian distress calls from Gaza City, but were unable to provide assistance due to the intensity of the bombardment.
The armed wings of Hamas and its ally, Islamic Jihad, said their fighters were attacking Israeli forces with machine guns, mortars and anti-tank missiles, killing and wounding Israeli soldiers. The Israeli military did not comment on casualties but said its soldiers were engaged in close combat with Hamas fighters.
Videos on social media show families crammed onto donkey carts and the backs of trucks loaded with mattresses and other belongings, making their way through the streets of Gaza City to flee areas under Israeli evacuation orders.
“Gaza City is being annihilated. This is what is happening. Israel is forcing us to leave our homes under fire,” Um Tamer, a mother of seven, told Reuters via a chat app. She said it was the seventh time her family had fled their home in the northern Gaza City, one of Israel’s first targets when the war began in October.
“We can’t take this anymore, enough deaths and humiliation. Let’s stop the war now,” she said.
The UN Human Rights Office said it was “appalled” by the way civilians, many of whom have been repeatedly displaced, were ordered to move to areas where “military operations are ongoing and civilians continue to be killed and injured”.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said all of its medical clinics were out of service in Gaza City due to Israeli evacuation orders that have pushed thousands of people west toward the Mediterranean and south.
Jagan Chapagain, director general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said on social media platform X that “the closure of these vital medical facilities is making an already dire health system worse.”
“These clinics and medical points are often the only lifeline for many civilians.”
Since October, at least 38,243 people have been killed and 88,243 injured in Israel’s war on Gaza. The death toll from the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel is estimated at 1,139, and dozens of people remain captive in Gaza.