Israeli airstrike on Gaza school shelter kills nearly 100, sparks controversy over casualty count | Aaj Samachar

Israel-Gaza War: The Hamas-run Gaza government said on Saturday that nearly 100 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a Gaza school complex housing displaced families, while the Israeli military said it targeted Hamas militants there and cast doubt on the death toll.

Video from the scene showed body parts scattered on the ground, with some bodies moved and covered with blankets on the floor. Empty food containers lay soaked in blood, and burned mattresses and a child’s doll lay amid the rubble.

The Hamas-run media office said in a statement that the attack occurred as people sheltering in the school were performing morning prayers, causing multiple casualties.

“So far more than 93 people have been martyred, including 11 children and six women. There are also some unidentified remains,” Palestinian civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said in a televised news conference.

He said about 6,000 people were taking shelter in the complex. The Gaza Health Ministry has not yet given details of casualties.

In a statement issued in Hebrew, the Israeli military said the death toll had been raised. It said about 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants were active at the scene.

“The compound and the mosque inside it served as an active military facility of Hamas and Islamic Jihad,” Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said on XTV.

“According to a preliminary review, the numbers published by the Hamas-run Government Information Office in Gaza do not match the information available with the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), the exact weapons used and the accuracy of the attack,” Shoshani said.

A military official said the section of the mosque that was attacked was a men’s area, where no women or children were present.

“Intelligence has confirmed this and the attack was carried out using three small, precision weapons, which would not have caused as much damage as the Palestinians are reporting,” the official said.

Speaking at a press conference in Gaza City, Bassal said the attack “hit the upper and lower floors of the school. There were women and children on the upper floor, while on the lower floor there were people praying. They were directly hit.”

Israel says Palestinian militant groups have infiltrated Gaza’s civilian population and are operating from schools, hospitals and designated humanitarian areas – which Hamas and its allies deny.

Hamas said the attack was a terrible crime and a serious escalation. Izzat al-Reshik, a member of Hamas’ political office, said in a statement that the dead did not include “a single fighter.”

Thousands of displaced Palestinians have taken refuge in Gaza’s schools, most of which have stopped functioning since the war began 10 months ago.

New round of ceasefire talks

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, urged Israel’s ally Washington to “end blind support that is leading to the killing of thousands of innocent civilians, including children, women and the elderly.”

Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia condemned the attack, which comes as mediators push to restart ceasefire talks. Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the attack should mark a turning point in their efforts.

Egypt said the killing of Gaza civilians showed Israel had no intention of ending the war. Qatar’s foreign ministry described the attack as a “horrific massacre”.

Egypt, the United States and Qatar have set a new round of ceasefire talks for Thursday, as fears grow of a wider conflict involving Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said he will not end the war until Hamas no longer poses a threat to Israel, said a delegation would be sent to the August 15 talks.

A Hamas official told Reuters the group was studying a new proposal for talks but did not elaborate.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas fighters crossed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.

Since then, nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, although the ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Health officials say most of the deaths have been civilians. Israel, which has lost 329 soldiers in Gaza, says at least a third of the Palestinian fighters have been killed. Iran-backed Hamas does not publish its casualty figures.