A hospital in central Gaza said Thursday at least 37 people were killed in Israeli bombardment overnight of a UN-run school which the Israeli military said housed a “Hamas compound”.
The military said it “eliminated” several “terrorists” after its jets “conducted a precise strike on a Hamas compound embedded inside an UNRWA school in the area of Nuseirat”, in central Gaza.
Hamas’s media office called it a “horrific massacre that shames humanity”.
Israel has frequently accused Hamas and its allies in Gaza of using schools, health facilities and other civilian infrastructure as operational centres — charges denied by Hamas.
Its chief, Philippe Lazzarini, said last week that Israel “must stop its campaign against UNRWA” in an opinion article published by the New York Times.
Sticking points
The latest strike came as US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators resumed talks Wednesday to try to secure a truce and hostage release deal.
G7 powers and Arab states have backed a proposal announced by Biden, although sticking points remain — Hamas insists on a permanent truce and full Israeli withdrawal, demands that Israel has flatly rejected.
A source with knowledge of the negotiations confirmed to AFP that a meeting took place on Wednesday “between the Qatari prime minister and head of Egyptian intelligence with Hamas in Qatari capital Doha to discuss a deal for a truce in Gaza and the exchange of hostages and prisoners”.
Biden has urged Hamas to accept the deal and has deployed CIA chief Bill Burns to Qatar, where the group’s political bureau is based, for a renewed push after months of negotiations.
The source said Burns would “continue working with mediators on reaching an agreement between Hamas and Israel on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages”.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said his group would “deal seriously and positively” with any offer meeting those demands.
With AFP
