Canada joins international condemnation of deadly Israeli strike on Gaza school compound | CBC News

WARNING: This story contains graphic images

An Israeli airstrike on a Gaza City school compound housing displaced Palestinian families killed around 100 people, the Gaza Civil Emergency Service said on Saturday, while Israel said the toll was inflated and 19 militants were among the dead.

Video from the site showed body parts scattered on the ground and more bodies being carried away and covered in blankets on the floor. Empty food tins lay in a puddle of blood and burned mattresses and a child’s doll were among the debris.

In another part of the Tabeen school complex in Gaza City, men prayed over a dozen body bags laid out on the ground.

The territory’s Civil Emergency Service, which has a credible record in stating casualty numbers, and the Hamas-run government media office said in separate statements that the complex had been attacked as its occupants were performing dawn prayers.

“So far, there are more than 93 martyrs, including 11 children and six women. There are unidentified remains,” said Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson, Mahmoud Bassal, in a televised news conference.

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought shelter in Gaza’s schools, most of which have been closed since the war began 10 months ago.

Around 350 families had been sheltering at the compound, Bassal said — some of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by Israel’s onslaught on Gaza.

The upper floor housing families and the lower floor, used as a mosque, were both hit, he said.

The Israeli military said the death toll was inflated.

“The strike was carried out using three precise munitions, which can not cause the amount of damage that is being reported,” the military said in a statement.

It added that no severe damage was caused to the compound, and provided aerial photos and videos which it said proved this.

The compound, and the mosque that was struck within it, “served as an active Hamas and Islamic Jihad military facility,” Israeli Lt.-Col. Nadav Shoshani said on X.

An Israeli army official said the part of the mosque that was struck was reserved for men.

Israel says Palestinian militant groups embed among Gaza’s civilians, operating from within schools, hospitals and designated humanitarian zones — which Hamas and its allies deny.

Hamas said the strike was a horrific crime and a serious escalation. Izzat El-Reshiq, a member of Hamas’s political office, said the dead did not include a single combatant.

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought shelter in Gaza’s schools, most of which have stopped functioning since the start of the war 10 months ago.

A separate strike on Saturday killed three Palestinians in Al-Nuseirat, in central Gaza and another killed one person in the nearby Deir Al-Balah city, medics said.

Later in the day an Israeli strike killed three Palestinians in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, where the Israeli army has operated since May, medics said.

Separately, the Israeli military said the head of general security in Hamas’s military wing, Walid Alsousi, had been assassinated in southern Gaza. There was no immediate Hamas comment.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah armed group in Lebanon said it launched a drone attack against military positions in northern Israel.

Further calls for ceasefire

“Canada condemns the Israeli strike that killed Palestinian civilians sheltering at a school in Gaza, including children,” Global Affairs said on social media. “An immediate ceasefire is desperately needed, alongside the release of hostages.”

The White House said it was “deeply concerned” about the Israeli strike on the Gaza City school compound and that it was in contact with Israeli officials asking for further details.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on X that he was horrified by the images from the school. France and Britain condemned the airstrike.

WATCH | U.S., Qatar, Egypt push for ceasefire talks to resume: 

U.S., Qatar, Egypt push for Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks to resume next week

Leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar have called on Israel and Hamas to meet for negotiations on Aug. 15 in order to finalize a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

A spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, urged Israel’s ally Washington to put an end to “blind support that leads to the killing of thousands of innocent civilians, including children, women, and the elderly.”

Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey all condemned the strike.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said it should serve as a turning point as mediators push to resume ceasefire talks.

WATCH | Some Gazams live on the street, in cemeteries due to overcrowding: 

Some Palestinians in Gaza live on the street and in cemeteries due to overcrowding

Muhammad Abu Ghalban says he’s building a shelter in a cemetery in Gaza because every hospital and school he went to was overcrowded. Duaa Abu Jamae says after being displaced from her home that was bombed, she found no place to go other than the street.

A Hamas official told Reuters the group was studying the new offer for talks but did not elaborate.

Egypt said that the killing of Gaza civilians showed Israel had no intention to end the war. Qatar’s foreign ministry described the strike as a “horrific massacre.”

Speaking to Al Jazeera television, Khalil Al-Hayya, the head of the Hamas team for the indirect ceasefire talks with Israel, said statements of condemnation were no longer sufficient.

“Dismiss [Israeli] ambassadors, close down embassies, and sever ties with the occupation,” he said.

Egypt, the United States and Qatar have scheduled a new round of ceasefire negotiations for Thursday, as fears are growing of a broader conflict, involving Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said he will not end the war until Hamas no longer poses a threat to Israelis, said a delegation would be sent to the Aug. 15 talks.

WATCH | Netanyahu blasts Gaza war critics in fiery speech to U.S. Congress: 

Netanyahu blasts Gaza war critics in fiery speech to U.S. Congress

In a fiery speech to the U.S. Congress skipped by some top Democrats, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed critics of his country’s war against Hamas as ‘useful idiots’ for Iran, and said America and Israel must stand together.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Health officials say most of the fatalities have been civilians. Israel, which has lost 329 soldiers in Gaza, says at least a third of the Palestinian fatalities are fighters. Iran-backed Hamas does not publish its casualties.