At least 29 dead in Israeli attack on school in southern Gaza

GAZA (France 24).– At least 29 people were killed and dozens more injured Tuesday, July 9, in an Israeli attack on a school where displaced people were taking refuge in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources in the enclave reported.

The Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed that dozens of people were affected after an attack on a school in the Abasan area, east of Khan Younis, and that its teams are trying to transport the wounded to two hospitals in the town, although it did not give figures for the dead or injured.

The Hamas government in Gaza said that most of the victims were women and children and stressed that “this massacre occurred after the occupation committed six other massacres in the central camps, which raised the number of martyrs to 60 in the last few hours,” according to a statement from the Islamist group’s Media Office.

Khan Younis is home to many of those displaced by the ground invasion of Rafah, the southernmost area of ​​the Strip, where Israeli troops entered at the beginning of May and have been operating ever since.

Israel has not yet confirmed the attack on Khan Younis.

Israeli forces today concentrated fire on the center of the Palestinian enclave, devastated after nine months of a war that has already left more than 38,000 dead and thousands missing.

The worst hit locality was the Nuseirat refugee camp, located eight kilometers south of Gaza City. In this camp, the Israeli army killed 17 members of a single family, including 14 children and women.

Just five kilometres away, in Deir al-Balah – a town where Israel directed displaced people from northern Gaza City yesterday – a woman and her child were killed by intense Israeli bombardment overnight.

Residents said that Israeli tanks that entered the Tel Al-Hawa, Shejaia and Sabra neighborhoods of Gaza City shelled roads and buildings, forcing them to flee their homes. This was followed by Israeli military orders to evacuate several districts in the east and west of Gaza City posted on social media, including these neighborhoods.

“We hold the occupation and the US administration responsible for the horrific massacres against civilians,” Thawabta said in a statement.

On the Gaza City front, the armed wings of Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad said their fighters engaged Israeli forces with machine gun fire, mortar fire and anti-tank missiles, killing and wounding Israeli soldiers.

Meanwhile, mediators from Israel and Hamas are negotiating a truce agreement that would allow for the release of the 116 Israeli hostages held in Gaza and the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.

But yesterday, Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh said the ongoing Israeli military attacks on Gaza City and central Gaza could bring talks to a halt “back to square one.”