Israel bombs UNRWA school in Gaza, killing at least 37 displaced Palestinians | News on the Israel-Palestine conflict

Israeli forces bombed a United Nations-affiliated school in central Gaza, killing at least 37 displaced Palestinians and wounding dozens more, according to official sources and local media.

Al-Aqsa Hospital announced on Thursday that it had received the bodies of 37 people killed in the attacks on Al-Sardi school and houses in Nuseirat camp.

Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, condemned the attack at dawn Thursday as a “horrific massacre” and said scores of women and children were among the dead and injured.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that thousands of displaced Palestinians sought shelter at the Al-Sardi school when it was attacked. The school is affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Ismail al-Thawabta, a spokesman for the Gaza government’s media office, said “huge numbers of dead and injured” had arrived at Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza.

“This horrific massacre perpetrated by the Israeli occupation is clear evidence of genocide and ethnic cleansing against the civilian population, including women and children, as well as displaced persons in the Gaza Strip,” he told reporters.

The number of dead and injured has overwhelmed the hospital, “which has three times more injured than its capacity,” he added. “This points to a real catastrophe that will lead to an even greater increase in the number of martyrs.”

“Apocalyptic” violence

The Israeli military confirmed the bombing and said its jets had attacked a “Hamas compound in a UNRWA school in the Nuseirat area.” It claimed the bombing “eliminated terrorists who were planning attacks against the Israeli forces.”

Hamas rejected the Israeli statement.

“The occupation is lying to public opinion with false, fabricated stories to justify the brutal crimes it has committed against dozens of displaced people,” al-Thawabta told Reuters.

The attack on al-Sardi came as Israeli forces stepped up their bombardment of the Gaza Strip while the United States and mediators continued efforts to broker a ceasefire.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said that before the latest attack on Nuseirat, Israeli forces had killed at least 102 people in 24 hours. These included attacks on the Bureij and Maghazi refugee camps, also in central Gaza.

Doctors Without Borders described the situation in Gaza as “apocalyptic” in a statement on Wednesday. The organization, known by its French acronym MSF, said Al-Aqsa hospital had admitted 70 dead and over 300 injured since Tuesday, and the majority of the victims were women and children.

“The smell of blood in the hospital emergency room this morning was unbearable. There were people lying everywhere, on the floor, outside… corpses were brought in plastic bags. The situation is overwhelming,” said Karin Huster, an MSF worker.

The “insane escalation of violence” throughout the Gaza Strip and the closure of the Rafah border crossing – which has halted most humanitarian supplies to the Palestinian enclave – have strained the health system to the “brink of collapse”, she said.

“This man-made disaster must end now,” she added.

At least 36,586 Palestinians have been killed and 83,074 injured in Israel’s eight-month war on Gaza. The brutal onslaught, which some countries and UN experts call genocide, began after Hamas militants launched attacks inside Israel on October 7 last year, killing at least 1,139 people and capturing dozens more.

Ceasefire talks

However, efforts to end the war have made little progress so far.

William Burns, the director of the CIA, was in Qatar’s capital Doha on Wednesday to discuss a three-stage ceasefire proposal that U.S. President Joe Biden touted last week. The first phase calls for a six-week truce during which Hamas releases some of its prisoners, Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza’s population centers and negotiations continue on a permanent ceasefire.

Regional and international powers support the proposal, but there are still points of contention. Hamas insists on a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops.

However, Israel has rejected these demands and said it was only willing to talk about temporary pauses until Hamas was defeated.

Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, reiterated the group’s stance on Wednesday.

“The movement and the resistance factions will seriously and positively consider any agreement based on a comprehensive cessation of aggression and complete withdrawal, as well as an exchange of prisoners,” he said.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said there would be no pause in the fighting.

“Any negotiations with Hamas would be conducted under fire,” Gallant was quoted as saying as he flew aboard a plane to inspect the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.