Gaza: 29 dead in new strike on school blamed on Israel

Twenty-nine Palestinians were killed. You were killed Tuesday in a strike against a school housing displaced people in southern Gaza, Gaza said. Hamas by accusing Israel, at the time when Israeli troops are engaged in a major offensive in the north of the territory.

Entering its 10th month, the war is not experiencing any respite while new negotiations are expected in Qatar to try to move towards a ceasefire associated with the release of hostages held in Gaza .

These hostages were kidnapped during an unprecedented attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7, to which Israel responded with a large-scale offensive in the Gaza Strip where the Palestinian Islamist movement took power in 2007.

“A strike targeted the door of the Al-Awda school in Abassan, east of Khan Younes (south) There were 29 martyrs,” said a medical source at the city’s Nasser hospital.

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Hamas accused Israel, giving the same death toll of 29, “mostly children and women”.

“This massacre is the continuation of the crime of genocide that the occupying army has launched against our people for the 10th consecutive month,” said the press office of the Islamist movement.

Asked by AFP, the Israeli army said it was verifying information on this strike, the fourth to hit a school in as many days in the Gaza Strip, ravaged by bombings and threatened with famine.

Three other schools housing displaced people have been hit since Saturday by Israeli bombings which left at least 20 dead according to Palestinian sources. In these three cases, the army said it had targeted “terrorists”, after accusing Hamas of “using residents as human shields”.

In the north of the territory, Israeli troops bombarded Gaza City by air and land, during a new major offensive against Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the European Union and the United States.< /p>

This is the “most intense fighting in months”, claimed Hamas, which Israel promised to destroy after the October 7 attack.< /p>

A photo taken from Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke rising over Gaza, July 9, 2024 © AFP – JACK GUEZ

On June 27, the army launched a ground operation in Shujaiya, in the east of Gaza City, before extending it on Monday to the central neighborhoods, where “tens of thousands of people “, according to the UN, were called to evacuate by the army.

– “Where are we supposed to go?” –

On foot, in cars or vans, Palestinians, mostly women and children, fled with a few belongings.

“We were moved to Daraj (Gaza district), then to al-Chifa hospital then to ministry headquarters, and now we have fled the al-Tuffah district (in Gaza)! Where are we supposed to go?”, cries Oum Nimr al-Jamal. “We ran for our lives, taking nothing with us.”

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Palestinian children Uday (L) and Mohammed Mahra, both suffering from malnutrition, are admitted to Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, on July 9, 2024 © AFP – Omar AL-QATTAA

“We have about 350,000 people on the roads again. And since the beginning of the war, almost all the people in Gaza have been displaced once, twice, three times, four times or five times, which shows that there is absolutely no safe place” in the territory, said the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini.

– “Starvation campaign” –

Israeli army tanks are deployed in an area near Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip, July 9, 2024 © AFP – JACK GUEZ

In Geneva, ten independent UN experts accused Israel of carrying out a “starvation campaign” in Gaza, which they say is leading to the deaths of children. “Israel's intentional and targeted starvation campaign against the Palestinian people is a form of genocidal violence and has resulted in famine throughout the Gaza Strip.”

Accusations dismissed by the Israeli mission to the UN in Geneva.

Israeli soldiers and police secure a road as rockets are fired from southern Lebanon into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, July 9, 2024 © AFP – Jalaa MAREY

On October 7, Hamas launched an attack in southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. Of the 251 people kidnapped, 116 are still being held in Gaza, of whom 42 are dead, according to the army.

The Israeli retaliatory offensive in Gaza has reached present 38,243 dead, mostly civilians, according to the Ministry of Health of the Hamas-led Gaza government.

– “Destroyer of Lebanon” –< /p>

The border area between Lebanon and Israel © AFP – Patricio ARANA, Sabrina BLANCHARD, Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA

After months of fruitless negotiations on a ceasefire, a source close to the discussions indicated that the heads of the CIA and Israeli intelligence services were expected in Doha on Wednesday.

Israel and Hamas continued to report differences after the Palestinian movement said, according to an official, it was no longer demanding a permanent ceasefire before any negotiations on the release of hostages.

Hamas must take part in upcoming negotiations, a group official said.

Israel says it wants to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed.

On Israel's northern front, Israeli police reported the deaths of two people in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which were targeted by rockets fired from Lebanon.

The exchange of fire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah has intensified in recent days.

“Nasrallah, if you don't stop the threats and violence (…) you will be considered the destroyer of Lebanon,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told the leader of the Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.

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