EU’s Borrell Says 'No Justification For These Massacres’ After Israeli Strike Kills Nearly 100 Gazans

The Washington Post and several international outlets are reporting another mass casualty event in Gaza – this time a reported Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza City sheltering refugees. Gaza’s Civil Defense Force says the attack killed at least 93 people, including women and children.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it targeted a Hamas command center and has accused Gaza sources of inflating the death toll. However, gruesome images show many mangled and charred civilian bodies strewn all over the ground in the strike aftermath.

Gaza officials say the al-Taba’een school in Gaza City was housing about 6,000 internally displaced Palestinians before it was struck. Hamas-run emergency services have called it a „horrific massacre” and European officials have responded with condemnation.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed shock and horror, saying on X: „Horrified by images from a sheltering school in Gaza hit by an Israeli strike, with reportedly dozens of Palestinian victims. At least 10 schools were targeted in the last weeks. There’s no justification for these massacres.”

„The recovery operations are indescribable … The schoolyard was filled with bodies,” one local emergency response officials has said. The IDF has reacted to the widespread reports by saying the information in the media does „not align” with its own intelligence and information. 

The IDF claimed that terrorists have been „operating within a Hamas command and control center embedded in the Al-Taba’een school” and charged that Hamas has again used civilian population as „human shields”. 

This is the only image I can bear to share from the massacre at Tabeen school in Gaza City.

The scattered bodies and burned corpses are covered, but this glimpse barely scratches the surface of the true horror that unfolded. pic.twitter.com/RRWqMgMxyr

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) August 10, 2024

According to a description of what happened from The Washington Post:

Bassal said three-story school had consisted of a ground floor that was a prayer room for men, a first floor that was a shelter for women and children, and a third floor that was sheltering the rest of the displaced. The building was hit by three missiles, including one from the right of the building and one from the left, that “killed everyone inside this prayer hall,” he said, adding that “we did not find a single intact body” and many of the bodies were impossible to identify.

Turkey blasted what it called a „new crime against humanity” while UK Foreign Minister David Lammy said that Britain was „appalled” at the attack and urged „an immediate ceasefire.”

„Appalled by the Israeli Military strike on al-Tabeen school and the tragic loss of life,” Lammy wrote on X, adding: „We need an immediate ceasefire to protect civilians, free all hostages, and end restrictions on aid.”

Horrified by images from a sheltering school in Gaza hit by an Israeli strike, w/ reportedly dozens of Palestinian victims.

At least 10 schools were targeted in the last weeks. There’s no justification for these massacres

We are dismayed by the terrible overall death toll. 1/2

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) August 10, 2024

Regional Director for Save the Children, Tamer Kirolos, said in a statement: „This is the deadliest attack on a school since last October and it is devastating to see the toll this has taken including so many children and people at the school for dawn prayers.” He stressed that „All parties must respect the protected status of schools and not use schools as battlegrounds.”

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Meanwhile…

Just hours after the Biden administration Friday announced approval of $3.5 billion in military funds for Israel and shipments for new weaponry, an Israeli bombing of a school-turned-shelter in Gaza has killed 100 people or more, including scores of civilian men, women, and children in what was described as a „bloody massacre” that struck during morning prayers, leaving body parts scattered „in pieces” and healthcare workers overwhelmed with the dead and wounded. —Common Dreams

Kamala Harris responds to Gaza protesters chanting during a rally in Michigan: „You know what? If you want Donald Trump, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.” pic.twitter.com/06mhCSBAhM

— Ken Klippenstein 📎 (@kenklippenstein) August 8, 2024