Photo: Bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. © UNICEF/Eyad El Baba.

Dozens feared dead in Israeli airstrike on UNRWA school in Gaza

New York, N.Y. Israel’s military carried out an airstrike Thursday on a U.N. school in central Gaza, where Palestinian health officials said at least 33 people were killed.

The Israel Defense Forces said Hamas fighters who participated in the October 7 attack against Israel were using the school as shelter and “directed terror” from the site.

The Hamas media office rejected Israel’s statement and said Israeli forces had carried out a “brutal crime” against displaced people and said 23 women and children are among the dead.

Israeli military spokesperson Lt Col. Peter Lerner told reporters that Israel was not aware of any civilian casualties.

The strike happened at a school run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in Nuseirat.

Nearly a week after U.S. President Joe Biden publicly detailed a proposed six-week cease-fire in Gaza, the United States and 16 other nations issued a joint statement Thursday expressing their support for the deal.

“We call on Hamas to close this agreement, that Israel is ready to move forward with, and begin the process of releasing our citizens,” the statement said.

The proposal includes the release of some of the hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, a surge in humanitarian aid for Palestinians and calls for continued negotiations aimed at achieving a permanent cease-fire.

The joint statement said it is time for the war to end.

“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 and bring relief to the families of our hostages, as well as those on both sides of this terrible conflict, including the civilian populations,” it said.

Signatories to the statement are Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain and Thailand.

Hamas launched the October 7 terror attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and taking roughly 250 hostages. About 120 of the hostages remain in Gaza, although the Israeli military says 37 of them are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory bombardments and ground offensive have killed at least 36,600 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The United Nations, in a report released on Wednesday, warned that at least 1 million Palestinians will reach the highest level of starvation by mid-July. The heavy restrictions on the flow of food, water, fuel and medical aid are worsening the situation in Gaza, particularly in northern Gaza, the World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization said in their joint report.

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TAGS: Gaza, Israel, Hamas, Airstrikes, UN Schools, Civilian Casualties, Humanitarian Crisis, Middle East Conflict