More than 90 Palestinians killed in Israeli strike on school and mosque sheltering displaced people, Gaza officials say

By CNN

Published August 10, 2024 5:50 AM

CNN

By Irene Nasser, Abeer Salman, Ibrahim Dahman, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Lex Harvey and Allegra Goodwin, CNN

(CNN) — At least 93 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli strike on a school and mosque in Gaza sheltering displaced people, according to local officials, sparking international outrage.

Gaza Civil Defense said people were performing dawn prayers at the Al-Tabi’in compound in the Al-Daraj neighborhood in the eastern part of Gaza City when it was hit overnight into Saturday. Israel confirmed it carried out the strike, saying Hamas was operating there.

“We recovered at least 90 people who had been killed,” Gaza Civil Defense Spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told CNN, adding that “many of them are torn apart, many are still unidentified.”

Videos seen by CNN of the aftermath of the strike show a large number of bodies strewn on the ground. Witnesses said there was no advance warning of the attack.

“All of these people who were targeted were civilians, unarmed children, the elderly, men and women,” said Fares Afana, director of ambulance and emergency in northern Gaza.

“These were innocent people praying. … Where is the entire world?” said one man, who lost his daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren in the strike.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed to CNN that it hit the compound, saying its air force “precisely struck Hamas terrorists operating within a Hamas command and control center embedded” in the building.

The military also said that before the airstrike, “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and intelligence information.”

After CNN asked the IDF for evidence supporting its claim the compound harbored a command and control center, it said it had intelligence saying about 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters operated from the building. The IDF also disputed the death toll given by Gazan authorities. CNN cannot independently verify the figures.

Saturday’s strike is the fifth on a school in Gaza by the Israeli military since last Sunday, according to CNN’s previous reporting.

Following the strike, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, said Israel was “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.”

Israeli military action in Gaza has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians and injured over 90,000, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. As of early July, nearly 2 million people had been displaced in the enclave – almost its entire population, according to figures from the United Nations.

Israel launched the military offensive on October 7, after militant group Hamas attacked southern Israel. At least 1,200 people were killed, and more than 250 others abducted in the Hamas-led assault, according to Israeli authorities.

On Saturday, Basal said many of the dead were yet to be identified and others transferred to hospital are seriously injured.

“There are still large quantities of body parts and torn bodies inside Al-Ahli hospital,” he said. “Families are having a hard time identifying their children.”

One woman, known as Um Ahmed, told CNN that she could not find her husband in the aftermath of the strike. “I went to look for my husband and I didn’t see anybody, they were all in pieces,” she said.

Um Ahmed told CNN the mosque was full of young people who were “all in pieces and dismembered” in the aftermath of the strike.

“The bodies here are not identifiable. … They are all dismembered body parts,” said a man who came to check on the school after hearing of the strike during his morning prayer.

Israel told US it used smaller munition to limit civilian harm

Qatar and Egypt, who have been leading mediation efforts with the United States, condemned the strike and called it a violation of international law. The three countries have been making a fresh push to bring the warring parties to the negotiation table for a ceasefire and hostage deal.

A spokesman for the US National Security Council said the White House was “deeply concerned about reports of civilian casualties” following the strike.

“We are in touch with our Israeli counterparts, who have said they targeted senior Hamas officials, and we are asking for further details,” NSC spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement.

“We know Hamas has been using schools as locations to gather and operate out of, but we have also said repeatedly and consistently that Israel must take measures to minimize civilian harm,” he went on.

Savett added, “We mourn every Palestinian civilian lost in this conflict, including children, and far too many civilians continue to be killed and wounded. This underscores the urgency of a ceasefire and hostage deal, which we continue to work tirelessly to achieve.”

Israeli officials have told their American counterparts they used small munitions – as opposed to larger bombs – during the airstrike in Gaza specifically to mitigate civilian harm, a US official familiar with the matter said.

When asked about the strike, an Israeli military official earlier told CNN the Israel Defense Forces had used “three small and precise munitions that cannot cause the damage the Palestinians claim they have caused.”

CNN also reported earlier that Israel used at least one US-manufactured precision-guided bomb during the strike, according to weapons experts.

Footage of the aftermath filmed by CNN showed parts of an explosive device that Trevor Ball, a former US Army explosive ordnance disposal technician, confirmed were from a GBU-39 small diameter bomb.

According to weapons expert Chris Cobb Smith, the GBU-39, which is manufactured by Boeing, is a high-precision munition “designed to attack strategically important point targets” while causing low collateral damage.

‘A horrific massacre’

The strike brought international condemnation.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry called it “a horrific massacre.” Egypt accused Israel of “deliberately killing civilians,” and said the strike was “clear evidence” that Israel does not have the political will to end the war.

European leaders also expressed outrage at the strike. David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, said he was “appalled” by the strike in a post on X and called for an immediate ceasefire. The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said he was “horrified” and also called for a truce.

The Palestinian Authority condemned the strike and said it also held the US responsible, calling it “part of a pattern of daily atrocities committed by Israeli occupation forces.”

Saturday’s attack follows similar lethal strikes by Israel over the past week.

Airstrikes on multiple school buildings sheltering displaced Palestinians last weekend killed at least 47, including many children, and injured dozens more.

Videos obtained by CNN from the area of last Sunday’s strike – which the IDF also claimed targeted Hamas infrastructure – show extensive destruction and dead bodies in a schoolyard. In the videos, medics and rescuers carry injured children to waiting ambulances.

Palestinian officials told CNN that Israel did not give civilians any warning before the airstrikes occurred.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Kevin Liptak and Eugenia Yosuf contributed to this report. Khader Al-Za’anoun of Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, also contributed reporting.