PM Shehbaz strongly condemns Israeli barbaric strike on school.
GAZA CITY/LAHORE - Rescuers in Gaza said an Israeli air strike on a religious school housing displaced Palestinians killed 93 people on Saturday, as Israel’s military accused militants of basing themselves there. Hamas denounced the “dangerous escalation” in north Gaza, which came after international mediators invited the warring sides to resume next Thursday talks towards a long-sought ceasefire and hostage-release deal. Jordan’s foreign ministry said the timing was an indication of Israel’s efforts to “obstruct and thwart” the peace push. One of the mediators, Qatar, called for an “urgent international investigation” into strikes on school shelters. Civil defence rescuers in the Hamas-ruled territory said three Israeli missiles hit Al-Tabieen religious school in Gaza City while people performed dawn prayers. “Their bodies were torn apart,” civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP. “It reminds us of the first days of the war in the Gaza Strip.”
“Those who were inside the mosque were all killed. Even the floor above, where women and children were sleeping, was completely burned,” local resident Abu Wassim said. Israel’s military said it took “numerous steps” to mitigate risks as it “precisely struck Hamas operating within a Hamas command and control centre embedded in the Al-Tabieen school”. The military has repeatedly made similar accusations after strikes on school shelters. Hamas has previously denied using schools, hospitals and other civilian facilities for military aims.
Also, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Saturday that at least 39,790 people have been killed in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants, now in its 11th month. The toll includes 91 deaths in the previous 48 hours, according to ministry figures, which also list 92,002 people as having been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. The latest tolls do not appear to include Saturday’s pre-dawn Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people in Gaza City, which killed 93 people according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday strongly condemned an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter for displaced Palestinians in Gaza city and said that the attack upon a children’s school was an open aggression and barbarity which had no precedent in history.
“Israel has crossed all limits in its open aggression,” PM Office Media Wing, in a press release, quoted the prime minister as saying.
The prime minister called upon the international community, including the United Nations, to take practical steps to stop the ongoing Israeli aggression.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reiterated Pakistan’s demand to hold the leadership of Israel and its armed forces accountable for the genocide of Palestinians and war crimes. Israel should be given strict punishment for its gruesome crimes, he said and stressed upon implementation of a verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Israel.
The prime minister also reaffirmed Pakistan’s all-out moral and diplomatic support to the Palestinian brothers and sisters.
He prayed for the high ranks of shuhada who lost their lives in the attack and expressed condolences to the bereaved families.
Earlier, in the day, according to Palestinian officials, an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter for displaced Palestinians in Gaza city killed more than 100 people, including women and children.