The Middle East region is facing another dangerous escalation. An Israeli attack on a school building in Gaza is causing horror. However, the army is expressing doubts about the high death toll.
After an Israeli air strike on a school building in Gaza that left dozens dead, fighting in the coastal strip continues unabated. Residents of the town of Khan Yunis reported Israeli attacks after the army called on civilians to leave a northern district immediately. Israel accuses the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas of abusing the humanitarian zone in the area to launch rocket attacks on Israeli towns.
Khan Yunis is located in the south of the Gaza Strip. According to the Commissioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, more than 75,000 Palestinians have had to flee fighting in the southwest of the coastal region in the last few days alone.
Middle East diplomacy resists escalation of war
Meanwhile, according to media reports, efforts are underway behind the scenes to defuse the explosive situation throughout the region through diplomatic efforts. A planned round of talks on Thursday in Cairo or Doha could be decisive in this regard.
The focus is on the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, which have been stalled for months, to bring about an end to the ten-month Gaza war and to achieve the release of more than 100 hostages held by Hamas. The USA, Egypt and Qatar are mediating.
Ten days after the killing of two high-ranking enemies of Israel in Tehran and Beirut, it is still unclear whether and when Iran and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah will carry out the threatened massive retaliatory strikes against Israel. Israel’s armed forces have been on high alert for days. The USA, Israel’s most important ally, brought additional warships and fighter planes to the region. There is some hope, however, that a ceasefire in the Gaza war could bring about a general calming of the situation.
Scholz speaks with Netanyahu: for de-escalation and Gaza ceasefire
In a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) expressed great concern about the danger of a regional conflagration in the Middle East. With the aim of regional de-escalation, the time has now come to finalize the agreement on the release of the hostages and a ceasefire, said Scholz, according to a government spokesman in Berlin.
The danger of a conflagration in the region has been looming since two leading figures of Hamas and Hezbollah were killed in attacks at the end of July. Hamas’ foreign affairs chief, Ismail Haniya, was killed in an explosion in an Iranian government guesthouse in Tehran. Fuad Shukr, a kind of military chief of Hezbollah, was killed a few hours earlier in an air strike in Beirut. Israel claimed responsibility for his targeted killing. It did not comment on the assassination attempt on Haniya.
Israel and its allies assume that in the event of a retaliatory strike, they will be able to intercept a large number of rockets, cruise missiles and drones with modern defense systems. If many people are killed, Israel could respond with massive retaliation. This in turn could trigger an uncontrollable escalation and a major Middle East war, even if neither side intends this.
Horror over attack on school building – Israel: Death toll exaggerated
The situation was further inflamed by an Israeli air strike on a school building in Gaza on Saturday, in which at least 93 people were killed, according to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian civil defense. The building was used as a refugee shelter. The attack took place in the early hours of the morning, when many were performing their morning prayers, eyewitnesses reported.
However, the Israeli military spoke of a Hamas command center that was located in the attacked building. At least 19 commanders and fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad were killed. The air force used small-caliber rockets, which is why the number of victims cannot be that high. The information provided by none of the sides could be independently confirmed.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was appalled by the attack. “At least ten schools have been targeted in recent weeks. There is no justification for these massacres,” he wrote on Platform X. The US government was “deeply concerned” about the reports of civilian casualties.
Protests against “armchair glue” Netanyahu
Meanwhile, thousands of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities for an agreement that would lead to the release of 115 hostages. “This is our last chance to reach a deal that will save lives,” said the mother of one of the abductees at the rally in Tel Aviv. “Netanyahu continues to risk the lives of the hostages in order to keep his throne,” the newspaper “Haaretz” quoted her as saying.
Hamas and other groups from the Gaza Strip invaded southern Israel on October 7 last year, killing more than 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage. The unprecedented massacre triggered the Gaza War.
During a brief ceasefire, more than 100 hostages were released, mostly women and elderly people. Those released reported, among other things, inhumane conditions, deprivation, violence and psychological terror. According to Israeli figures, Hamas still has 115 hostages in its power, of whom Israel has declared 41 dead. In addition, many other hostages, whose fate is unknown, are probably no longer alive.
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.
