Israel Claims it Struck Hamas Command Centers Embedded in Gaza Schools

Palestinians look on the damage after the Israeli air strike hit UNRWA's Al-Jaouni School housing displaced people in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, 06 July 2024. (EPA)
Palestinians look on the damage after the Israeli air strike hit UNRWA's Al-Jaouni School housing displaced people in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, 06 July 2024. (EPA)
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Israel Claims it Struck Hamas Command Centers Embedded in Gaza Schools

Palestinians look on the damage after the Israeli air strike hit UNRWA's Al-Jaouni School housing displaced people in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, 06 July 2024. (EPA)
Palestinians look on the damage after the Israeli air strike hit UNRWA's Al-Jaouni School housing displaced people in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, 06 July 2024. (EPA)

The Israeli military said on Thursday it had struck Hamas command centers embedded in the areas of two schools in the Gaza Strip, which were used to carry out attacks against Israeli troops, Reuters reported.

"Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, surveillance, and additional intelligence," the military said.

"The school compounds were used by Hamas terrorists and commanders as command-and-control centers, from which they planned and carried out attacks against Israel Defence Forces troops and the state of Israel," it claimed.

 

 

 



Blinken: US Will Continue to Press Israel to Do More to Spare Humanitarian Sites in Gaza

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP)
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Blinken: US Will Continue to Press Israel to Do More to Spare Humanitarian Sites in Gaza

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday the United States will continue to urge Israel to do more to spare humanitarian sites in the Gaza Strip after an Israeli airstrike on a UN school complex sheltering displaced Palestinians killed six UN staffers.

When asked at a news conference in the Polish capital about Israel’s bombing of the school complex in central Gaza the day before, Blinken told reporters that “we need to see humanitarian sites protected.”

“That’s something we continue to raise with Israel,” he said.

Wednesday's strike on the UN-supported al-Jaouni Preparatory Boys School in Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza, killed at least 14 people, including two children and a woman, hospital officials said. Among those killed were six staffers from the UN Palestinian refugee agency, known as UNRWA, the main UN relief agency in Gaza.

UNRWA described the strike as the deadliest single incident for its staff members. Among those killed at the school, it said, were the manager of the shelter and others working to help the thousands of displaced people taking refuge there, including teachers.

The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said at least 220 UNRWA staffers have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s military offensive began in response to Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Blinken blamed Hamas for continuing to hide its fighters among civilians and said the bombing “underscores the urgency" of reaching a cease-fire in the embattled territory.