Francesca Albanese, the United Nations’s special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, has condemned the world’s “indifference” to mass bloodshed in Gaza.
“Israel is genociding the Palestinians one neighborhood at the time, one hospital at the time, one school at the time, one refugee camp at the time, one ‘safe zone’ at the time. With US and European weapons,” Albanese posted on X.
“May the Palestinians forgive us for our collective inability to protect them, honouring the most basic meaning of international law,” she added.
Her remarks follow an Israeli strike on the al-Tabin school, a school-turned-shelter for displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, which has killed more than 100 people including women and children.
The death toll is expected to rise.
Dead bodies and critically wounded patients were brought into al-Ahli Arab Hospital.
According to Gaza’s Civil Defence, more than 100 of those killed in the attack, which took place during morning prayers, have been recovered.
However, it added that 35 of the bodies are so badly damaged or torn apart that they cannot be identified.
Israel claimed, without offering any evidence, that the school was being used by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. It said that intelligence showed 20 fighters were based there, but did not provide any proof.
The Israeli army said that it had taken steps to reduce the risk of harming civilians, while dismissing the death toll from Palestinian officials as inaccurate.
Numerous countries in the region, including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iran, have condemned the school attack, calling it is a violation of international law.
In a statement decrying the attack, Hamas said that the massacre at al-Tabin school is a horrific crime that constitutes a dangerous escalation.”
Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the Palestinian group’s political bureau, said there were no armed men at the school.
Hamas said in its statement that Israel’s claims of the school being used as the group’s command centre are “excuses to target civilians, schools, hospitals, and refugee tents, all of which are false pretexts and exposed lies to justify its crimes”.
“We call on our Arab and Islamic countries and the international community to fulfill their responsibilities and take urgent action to stop these massacres and halt the escalating Zionist aggression against our people and defenseless citizens.”
Hamas
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) also said that the strike was “an extension of the brutal massacres and genocide committed by the Israeli occupation for more than ten months in the Gaza Strip.”
It called on the international community, especially the UN Security Council, to oblige Israel to respect its obligations as occupying power under international law and provide protection to the Palestinian people.
Worst Attack On School Since Gaza War Began
Tamer Kirolos, a Regional Director for Save the Children, called Israel’s attack on al-Tabin school in Gaza City, which killed more than 100 people, the “deadliest attack on a school since last October”.
“It is devastating to see the toll this has taken, including so many children and people at the school for dawn prayers,” Kirolos said.
Many children were reported killed and injured in this morning’s attack on Gaza City, and Kirolos said “children make up around 40 percent of the population and of people killed and injured since October” in the Strip.
“Civilians, children, must be protected. An immediate definitive ceasefire is the only foreseeable way that will happen,” he added.
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