Gaza School Attack Via Israeli Strike Kills 10 More

Gaza’s civil defence agency said that the Gaza school attack killed 10 more people resulting from the Israeli strike. 15 more were wounded.

The Israeli military stated that it had intended to strike a Hamas command centre. However, the bodies had to be pulled out of the building when “an Israeli plane dropped a bomb on the second floor of the (Mustafa Hafiz School) building where thousands of displaced people resided”, an agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal declared.

(Also read: Israel Airstrike On Gaza School Results In Death Of More Than 100 People)

The military kept asserting that Hamas terrorists used the place as their command and control centre for future plans and executing them against Israel. The Israeli troops reinforced that they were not to sit back and wait for the attack on the State of Israel, hence justifying their Gaza school attack.

They said that they carried out a “precise strike on terrorists who were operating” inside the school.

It was not long ago when Israeli strikes were made on another Gaza school, Al-Tabi’een in Gaza City. The attacks resulted in more than 100 deaths including 93 Palestinians and 31 militants.

Israel has not stopped attacking Gaza schools, claiming that they have used their strict surveillance techniques to identify Hamas commando centres. The school attacks were their targets, considering them Hamas bases.

Israel accused Palestinian militant groups of previous attacks on Israel, which the group openly denied.

Why the Gaza school attacks?

Since the war started between Israel and Hamas on 7 October, hundreds and thousands of people have taken refuge in these schools, which are now targets of Israeli strikes.

This morning, the Israeli army said that six bodies were retrieved who they assumed as hostages from Gaza’s southern district of Khan Younis. It was a joint operation with the internal security agency Shin Bet.

The names of the hostages are Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Nadav Popplewell, Yoram Metzger, Chaim Perry who was formerly declared dead, and 79-year-old Avraham Munder. Munder’s death was announced by his community in Nir Oz early this morning.

According to Nir Oz, the man has been subjected to months of physical and psychological torture and has openly accused Hamas militants of his “murder.”

Hamas militants took away Mr Munder, his wife and daughter along with his grandson. They kept them as hostages since 7 October. Other family members were released after a few weeks while his son was kept there for a longer time. On the day of the attack in November of last year, the son was declared dead.

The Israeli military did not give details of the hostages, however, they have confirmed their details from intelligence and forensic analysis. The relatives of the deceased hostages have been notified.

According to a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group, “The recovery of the bodies provides their families with necessary closure and grants eternal rest to the murdered”.

The members of the forum requested the Israeli military that the rest of the hostages should be retrieved as soon as possible, with a negotiated deal.

They were of the view that even if the Israeli government needs to take the support of the mediators, they must so that the deal should be finalised for the sake of the families and Israeli citizens’ safety.

A ceasefire is what the rest of the world is requesting. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to discuss the negotiations for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.

Mr Sisi stressed that the risk of war on Gaza is quite high and would become “difficult to imagine” if it keeps expanding globally.

He added, “The ceasefire in Gaza must be the beginning of broader international recognition of the Palestinian state and the implementation of the two-state solution, as this is the basic guarantor of stability in the region”.

Mr Blinken specifically stressed the area where the ceasefire negotiation could work. He was trying his best in Cairo talks to lock a deal on a hostage release, probably later in the week, and identify the major areas of the ceasefire deal that should be resolved sooner.