Israel gets away with another war crime
We condemn Israel's horrific bombardment of the Al-Tabieen religious school and mosque in Gaza, which killed at least 93 people including 11 children. The death toll is one of the largest from a single strike during the 10 months of aggressive military campaign by Israel in Gaza. According to civil defence rescuers, three Israeli missiles hit the complex—used as a shelter for internally displaced people—while the latter were performing their dawn prayers or sleeping. As such, it clearly amounts to another war crime committed by Israel.
The Israeli military has confirmed that it used "three precise munitions" for the attack. Such meticulous arrangement for the purpose of killing innocent civilians once again shows what the Israeli campaign in Gaza is truly about. However, as always, Israel has claimed—without any evidence—that it had received intelligence suggesting at least 19 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists were eliminated in the attack. According to international law, even if some of the individuals who took shelter at the school were militants, Israel cannot wipe out so many civilians in the process of attacking them. But as we have seen repeatedly, this rogue nation has absolutely no respect for international law.
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Since October 7, Israel's military campaign has killed at least 39,790 people in Gaza. With nearly all of the Gaza Strip's 2.4 million people displaced at least once during this time, many have sought refuge in school buildings, having nowhere else to go. Since July 6, however, Israel has hit school buildings at least 14 times, leaving the inhabitants of Gaza with literally nowhere left to go. This nonstop killing and traumatising of an entire people must be brought to an end immediately.
For months, we have been hearing about a potential ceasefire. However, time and again, Israel has either refused to show any sincerity in negotiations or launched one horrific attack after another that have sabotaged the entire process. The latest strike also comes at a crucial time which indicates that Israel is trying to obstruct another mediation effort—which Qatar, one of the mediators, has openly said. As some Israeli analysts have also pointed out, Netanyahu is trying to prolong the fighting for political gains. As such, it is time for the international community, particularly the western countries backing Israel, to force it back to the negotiation table, and stop it from launching any further attacks on defenceless Palestinians.
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