Nidal al-Mughrabi and James Mackenzie| Reuters
Show Caption
CAIRO − Israel hit a Gaza school on Thursday with what it described as a targeted airstrike on up to 30 Hamas fighters inside, while a Hamas official said 40 people including women and children were killed as they sheltered at the U.N. site.
The strike took place at a sensitive moment in mediated negotiations on a cease-fire agreement entailing the release of hostages seized by Hamas on Oct. 7 and some of the Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Hamas seeks a permanent end to the war. Israel says it must destroy the Islamist militant group first.
The U.S. issued a joint statement with other countries on Thursday calling on Israel and Hamas to make whatever compromises were necessary to finalize a deal as the two sides gave contradictory accounts of the school attack.
Ismail Al-Thawabta, the director of the Hamas-run government media office, rejected Israel's assertion that the U.N. school in Nuseirat, in central Gaza, had hidden a Hamas command post.
More: 'You're beautiful': Video shows female Israeli soldiers seized by Hamas
"The occupation uses ... false fabricated stories to justify the brutal crime it conducted against dozens of displaced people," Thawabta told Reuters.
Israel's military said its fighter jets had carried out a "precise strike" and circulated satellite photos highlighting two parts of a building where it said the fighters were based.
"We're very confident in the intelligence," military spokesperson Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told reporters, accusing Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters of deliberately using U.N. facilities as operational bases.
He said 20-30 fighters were located in the compound, and many of them had been killed, but he had no precise details as intelligence assessments were being carried out. "I'm not aware of any civilian casualties and I'd be very, very cautious of accepting anything that Hamas puts out," he said.
More: The U.S. announced it. Israel kind of rejected it. What is Biden's Gaza cease-fire plan?
The school, run by the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), was sheltering 6,000 displaced people at the time, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said.
"At least 35 people were killed and many more injured," he wrote on X. "Claims that armed groups may have been inside the shelter are shocking. We are however unable to verify these claims. Attacking, targeting or using UN buildings for military purposes are a blatant disregard of International Humanitarian law."
Media in Hamas-run Gaza had earlier put the toll at 35-40. Thawabta said 40 had been killed, including 14 children and nine women.
More: Report: Israel targeted U.S. lawmakers through hundreds of fake social media accounts
Cease-fire efforts
Israel announced a new military campaign in central Gaza on Wednesday as it battles fighters relying on hit-and-run insurgency tactics. It says there will be no halt to fighting during cease-fire talks, which have intensified since U.S. President Joe Biden outlined a proposal on Friday.
"At this decisive moment, we call on the leaders of Israel as well as Hamas to make whatever final compromises are necessary to close this deal," said the statement issued by the White House jointly with Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Britain, Canada and others.
In another sensitive development, the Israeli military reported a rare attack near the Israel-Gaza border, saying a squad of Palestinian fighters killed a soldier, while three militants were killed in return fire.
It did not name a location but a statement by Hamas' armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said its fighters had conducted an operation behind enemy lines in the Rafah area of southern Gaza, a location corresponding to the Israeli military's account.
More: Furious Israel ambassador shreds UN charter before vote on Palestine membership
US awaiting Hamas response to ceasefire proposal
The State Department said that they are still awaiting a response from Hamas to the proposed ceasefire deal, which was submitted to Hamas last week.
"Al-Qassam fighters managed to penetrate the barrier and attacked the enemy command headquarters," it said.
The incident was likely to challenge efforts to restore a sense of security in Israeli border communities that were overrun by Hamas-led gunmen on Oct. 7 last year.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military said it was setting up a quick-response commando unit made up of border residents as a precaution against further armed incursions.
CIA director William Burns met senior officials from mediators Qatar and Egypt on Wednesday in Doha to discuss the cease-fire plan. Two Egyptian security sources said talks continued on Thursday with no sign of breakthrough.
Biden has repeatedly declared that cease-fires were close over the past several months, but there has been only one, a weeklong truce in November.
Last week's announcement coincides with intense domestic political pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to chart a path to end the 8-month-old war and negotiate the release of hostages held by Hamas.
But far-right members of his government have pledged to quit if he agrees to a peace deal that leaves Hamas in place.
More: 30,000-plus lives lost: Visualizing the death and destruction of Israel's war in Gaza
Hamas precipitated the war by attacking Israeli territory last Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. About half the hostages were freed in the November truce.
Israel's military assault on Gaza has killed more than 36,000 people, according to health officials in the territory, who say thousands more dead are feared buried under the rubble.
U.S. and Israeli officials have told Reuters about half of Hamas' forces have been killed in the conflict. Hamas does not disclose fatalities among its fighters and some officials say Israel exaggerated the figures.
Israel's own military death toll is almost 300.
