Israeli airstrikes hit a shelter housing displaced Palestinians in Gaza City on Saturday morning, killing about 100 people, according to authorities in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Witnesses said the attack on Al-Tabain school in the Daraj Tufa neighborhood took place during dawn prayers, and videos posted on social media showed a large number of bodies piled into a makeshift hall.
If confirmed, it would be one of the deadliest Israeli attacks since the start of the Gaza war, now in its 11th month.
Local authorities in Gaza City called it a “massacre” as emergency workers worked to dig through the rubble and evacuate the injured.
“There are a lot of dangerously wounded. It’s been a very bloody day,” said Taysir al-Tanna, a surgeon at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, where many of the attack’s victims were taken.
The doctor said he had performed multiple amputations, including on at least four children.
The Israeli military confirmed the attack on the school on Saturday, saying it was targeting a “Hamas command and control center” where militants were hiding and planning attacks.
“Numerous measures have been taken to reduce the risk of harm to civilians, including the use of precision weapons, aerial surveillance and intelligence,” the Israeli army said in a statement, adding that shelters for civilians displaced by the fighting had been set up in a mosque adjacent to the school.
The Israeli military has stepped up attacks on schools across the Gaza Strip over the past month, claiming that Hamas fighters are using civilian shelters as bases of operations and that displaced people are acting as “human shields.”
The Israel Defense Forces later said the attack killed at least 19 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters, though it disputed the death toll reported from inside the Gaza Strip.
“The attack was carried out with three precision bullets, but expert analysis indicates that it cannot have caused the same damage as reported by the Hamas-run Government Intelligence Agency in the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said.
A spokesman for the US National Security Council said the council was “deeply concerned” about the reports of civilian casualties and had sought “further details” from Israel.
“While we are aware that Hamas uses schools as venues for rallies and activities, we have repeatedly and consistently maintained that Israel must take steps to minimize civilian harm,” the NSC said in a statement. “This underscores the urgency of a ceasefire and hostage agreement, and we are working tirelessly to achieve it.”
According to Reuters, US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris told reporters in Phoenix, Arizona, that Israel has a responsibility to avoid civilian deaths and called for a ceasefire and hostage agreement between the two sides.
According to health officials in the devastated areas, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict began. The conflict began with a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 that left 1,200 people dead, according to official Israeli statistics. Around 250 Israelis and foreigners were taken into Gaza as hostages during the attack, of which more than 100 remain in captivity.
Saturday’s attack came as the United States, Egypt and Qatar are making renewed efforts to reach an agreement to end fighting in Gaza and bring Israeli hostages home.
The three countries, which have been trying to mediate between Israel and Hamas for months, issued a statement calling on both sides to “resume urgent talks in Doha or Cairo to close remaining gaps” and to “start implementing the agreement without further delay.”
A meeting has been proposed for next Thursday, but prospects remain unclear. The United States and its allies believe a ceasefire agreement involving the release of the hostages is the only way to de-escalate hostilities in the region.
Tensions remained high in Israel on Saturday, as it warned of attacks by Iran and Lebanon-based Hezbollah in retaliation for two recent assassinations targeting senior militant officials.
Late last month, an Israeli airstrike killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut and, hours later, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel has neither denied nor confirmed responsibility for Haniyeh’s assassination.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is trying hard to avoid all-out war and has been moving additional military assets to the region, including warships and fighter jet squadrons.
“Escalating tensions are not in either party’s interest,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a call with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant on Friday.
According to a statement released by the State Department, Blinken “reiterated the urgent need to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza that will secure the release of hostages, allow for a surge of humanitarian assistance, and create the conditions for broader regional stability.”
Additional reporting by Heba Saleh in Cairo and Felicia Schwartz in Washington
