The Israeli army claimed responsibility early Thursday for an airstrike against a UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) school in the Gaza Strip, which it said was home to “a Hamas base”, which caused at least 27 dead according to the Islamist movement.
“Army fighter jets […] carried out a precise strike on a Hamas base located inside an Unrwa school in the Nousseirat region,” the army said in a statement. Israeli government which reported “several terrorists killed”.
“Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists belonging to the Nukhba forces and who participated in the deadly attack on communities in southern Israel on October 7 operated in this compound. The terrorists directed their campaign of terror from the school area while exploiting it and using it as a shelter,” the army assured.
The Hamas media office announced at least 27 dead and many injured in this strike against the Nousseirat camp, in the center of the Gaza Strip.
“A considerable number of martyrs and wounded continue to flock to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital”, located in the town of Deir al-Balah, near Nousseirat, assured the Hamas media office, accusing Israeli army for committing a “horrible massacre”.
Earlier in the night, the hospital had reported that it was experiencing a “failure of one of its electrical generators,” which could complicate the treatment of vulnerable patients and cause “a humanitarian catastrophe.”
Before this strike, this hospital had already received since Tuesday “at least 70 dead and more than 300 injured, mostly women and children, following Israeli strikes on the central areas of the Gaza Strip,” according to Médecins Sans Frontières. Borders.
“The smell of blood in the emergency room this morning was unbearable. There are people lying everywhere, on the floor, outside. Bodies were being brought in in plastic bags. The situation is unbearable,” Karin Huster, MSF’s Gaza coordinator, told X.
UNRWA, which coordinates almost all aid to Gaza, found itself at the heart of a diplomatic storm and on the verge of collapse after Israel in January accused a dozen of its 13,000 employees of Gaza for being involved in the deadly attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas that sparked the ongoing war on October 7.
This led many countries, including the United States, the main donor, to abruptly suspend funding to the agency, threatening its efforts to deliver aid to Gaza, although several states have since resumed their operations. payments.
And the head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, demanded that Israel stop “its campaign” against his agency, in a column published last Friday in the New York Times.
After eight months of war, Egypt, the United States and Qatar, which play the role of mediators, continue their efforts towards a ceasefire, a few days after the announcement by the American president, Joe Biden, of a road map proposed according to him by Israel.
This provides, in a first phase, for a six-week ceasefire accompanied by an Israeli withdrawal from densely populated areas of Gaza, the release of certain hostages taken during the Hamas attack and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
According to a source close to the negotiations, a meeting took place on Wednesday in Doha “between the Qatari prime minister, the head of Egyptian intelligence and Hamas, to discuss an agreement for a truce in Gaza and an exchange hostages and prisoners”.
The conflicting demands from both camps leave little hope of seeing the plan announced by Mr. Biden come to fruition.
Israel says it wants to destroy Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007, which it considers a terrorist organization along with the United States and the European Union.
Hamas leader Ismaël Haniyeh reiterated on Wednesday the demands of the movement which will study “seriously and positively” any proposal based on “a complete stop” of the Israeli offensive, “a total withdrawal” Israeli from Gaza and “an exchange of prisoners “.
The war was sparked by the attack in southern Israel by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count. based on official Israeli figures.
Of the 251 people taken as hostages on the day of the attack, 120 are still detained in Gaza, of whom 41 have died according to the Israeli army.
In response, the Israeli army launched a deadly offensive in the Gaza Strip that has so far left 36,586 people dead, mostly civilians, according to the latest data from the Health Ministry of the Hamas-led Gaza government. .
Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced Wednesday a “total annihilation of the civilian population” in Gaza, during a meeting with news agencies, including AFP.
On another front, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel was “ready for a very intense operation” on the border with Lebanon, where Hezbollah exchanges daily fire with the Israeli army, in support to Hamas.
The US State Department warned after these remarks of an “escalation” in Lebanon, “which would significantly harm the security” of Israel.
The UN said it was “very concerned” about tensions on the border between Lebanon and Israel and called on the various parties to de-escalate.
Early Thursday, anti-rocket alarm sirens sounded in Metula, an Israeli town backed by Lebanon.
