The Israeli army has attacked a school building where terrorists are said to have been hiding. The Palestinian side says at least 100 people are dead.
While the mediators in the Gaza war are pressing for a ceasefire agreement, the bloodshed in the sealed-off coastal strip continues for the time being. According to medical and security sources, at least 100 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a school in Gaza City. Israel’s army attacked the school, which is used as a refugee shelter, during Muslim prayers early in the morning, the Hamas-controlled media office said. According to the Israeli army, Hamas used the attacked building as a command center and as a hideout. None of the information could be independently verified.
Before the attack, “numerous measures” were taken to reduce the risk to civilians, the Israeli army announced early in the morning. Attacks against Israeli troops and the State of Israel were planned and prepared from the building. Dozens of victims were burned to death in the attack, the Hamas-controlled media office announced.
In view of the fear of a retaliatory strike by Iran and its allies after the killing of two leading figures of Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia against Israel, the USA is pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza. An escalation in the Middle East is “in the interest of neither party,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In a telephone conversation with Israel’s Defense Minister Joav Galant, he assured the USA of the ironclad support, but at the same time reiterated the “urgent need” for a ceasefire, a spokesman said.
Russia bans its airlines from night flights over Israel
The aviation authority in Moscow has banned Russian airlines from flying in the airspace over Israel for the next few nights. The ban is in effect from midnight CEST to 6 a.m. CEST. It will come into force today at daybreak, according to a report from the Rosaviatsia authority in Moscow. The so-called NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) is valid until August 16, 11 a.m. CEST. No reason was given, but it is likely that it is related to a feared Iranian air attack on Israel. Russia is a close ally of Iran and has supplied the country with more air defense weapons in recent days.
A ceasefire in the ten-month Gaza war is seen as the key to defusing the situation in the Middle East. The USA, Qatar and Egypt, which are mediating in the war, have urged both sides to reach an agreement in a joint statement. It is time to seal a ceasefire and an agreement on the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, wrote US President Joe Biden on Platform X. “There is no time to lose.”
Blinken: Ceasefire in Gaza creates conditions for stability
The statement, signed by Biden, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, called on Israel and Hamas to resume talks on August 15 in Doha or Cairo “to close any remaining gaps and begin implementing the agreement without further delay.” A ceasefire would ensure the release of the hostages, enable more humanitarian aid to reach the population and “create the conditions for broader regional stability,” Blinken said in a conversation with Galant, according to the spokesman.
Shortly after the mediators’ joint statement was published, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would send a delegation on Thursday. Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition partner, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, then described the deal demanded by the mediators as a “dangerous trap” on Platform X. It was a capitulation agreement that the mediators were forcing on Israel, Smotrich raged. The US government promptly criticized the deal sharply.
USA: Israel’s finance minister criticizes Gaza deal “absurd”
Statements like those made by Smotrich are “outrageous and absurd,” said John Kirby, communications director of the US National Security Council. Statements like these are not only factually incorrect, but also endanger the lives of the hostages and run counter to Israel’s own security interests. US President Biden will “not allow extremists to let things get out of hand, including extremists in Israel who are making these insane accusations against the deal.”
Smotrich is essentially suggesting that the war should continue without pause and without regard for the lives of the hostages, Kirby said. “His arguments are completely false. They mislead the Israeli public.” The agreement, which was negotiated over months, fully protects Israel’s national security interests. Most of Hamas’ leading figures are now dead and Hamas’s organized military structure has been destroyed, Kirby said. “Israel has now achieved almost all of its most important military objectives, with the exception of the explicit war goal of bringing the hostages home.”
Report: Hamas demands release of Barguti
Kirby stressed that the exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, as provided for in the deal, is not a capitulation. According to an Arab media report quoted in Israel, Hamas is demanding the release of the politician Marwan Barguti, who is imprisoned in Israel, in the first phase of a planned agreement with Israel. He belongs to the rival Fatah party, which dominates the Palestinian Authority (PA) governing the West Bank.
Barguti was sentenced to five life sentences for murder in Israel in 2004. For his supporters, he is a freedom fighter, the Wall Street Journal reported a month ago. His popularity among Palestinians is based on his image as a supporter of violence against Israel, but also as a pragmatist who strives for a lasting peace agreement. Barguti’s importance is shown by the demand of the rival Hamas to release him as part of an exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, the newspaper reported, citing Arab mediators.
UNRWA Commissioner-General laments extent of destruction in Gaza
The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre in Israel last October by terrorists from Hamas and other groups, which left more than 1,200 people dead. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 39,600 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began. The number does not distinguish between civilians and fighters and cannot be independently verified.
In view of the high number of civilian casualties, the catastrophic humanitarian situation and the devastating destruction in Gaza, Israel is under strong international criticism. According to the Commissioner General of the UN Palestinian Relief Agency UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, two out of three buildings in Gaza have now been damaged or destroyed. He is basing his statement on the latest data from the UN satellite observation program. With every day that the war continues, the destruction of an entire community continues, Lazzarini complained on X.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
