CAIRO, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Countries in the Middle East on Saturday strongly condemned deadly Israeli airstrikes launched earlier in the day on a school serving as a shelter for displaced people in Gaza City.
Israeli warplanes targeted the Al-Taba'een School in the Al-Daraj neighborhood in central Gaza City while the displaced people in the school were performing the Fajr prayer, killing at least 100 Palestinians and injuring dozens more, Palestinian medical and security sources said, adding that the victims included women and children.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that the school compound served as a Hamas and Islamic Jihad military facility, with about 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants, including senior commanders, operating there.
The IDF also expressed skepticism about the casualty numbers given by Hamas.
In a statement released Saturday, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said killing displaced civilians during dawn prayers is a crime that "surpasses the usual low level of vileness and unscrupulousness of the Israeli army."
He called on the international community to exert real pressure on Israel to negotiate seriously for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a prisoner swap deal.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that Israel's deliberate killing of so many unarmed civilians, whenever mediators intensified efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, is "conclusive evidence of the absence of political will on the part of the Israeli side to end this fierce war."
On Friday, Egypt, Qatar and the United States, three mediators in the current Israel-Hamas conflict, issued a joint statement urging both parties to resume talks in Cairo or Doha on Aug. 15 and finalize a ceasefire agreement at an early date.
Qatar's Foreign Ministry also strongly condemned the Israeli bombing of the school, calling for the dispatch of independent UN investigators to probe the ongoing targeting by Israeli forces of schools and shelters for displaced people.
Also on Saturday, the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants called the "systematic indiscriminate shelling by the Israeli occupation army and the killing of children and civilians" in Gaza "clear evidence of the Israeli government's disregard for the provisions of international law and international humanitarian law."
"The continued crimes against the Palestinians, and the deliberate killing of these huge numbers of civilians, provide conclusive evidence of Israel's intention to prolong the war and expand its scope," the ministry said in a statement, calling on the international community and the concerned parties to "take a unified, serious, and effective international position."
Jordan's Foreign Ministry also condemned the Israeli attacks on the Gaza school, calling the attacks a blatant violation of international law, and a continuation of Israel's systematic targeting of civilians and displacement shelters.
In a statement, the ministry's spokesperson Sufian Qudah said the attacks indicate the Israeli government's intention to obstruct and thwart efforts by the mediators to resume negotiations on a deal leading to a permanent ceasefire.
Qudah urged the international community, particularly the UN Security Council (UNSC), to take the responsibility to immediately stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza, halt the continuous Israeli violations of international law, and hold those behind the attacks accountable.
In a statement, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the "barbaric" Israeli attacks on the Gaza school, saying Israel's repeated attacks that led to the mass killing of civilians constitute a "flagrant violation" of all international norms and conventions and show the country's disregard for international initiatives aimed at stopping the aggression on Gaza.
Calling Israel's attacks on the Gaza school a "heinous massacre," the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Israel's continuous actions for over 10 months constitute crimes of genocide, and are unstoppable due to protection from the West.
"Syria ... reaffirms that the Israeli regime's continued bloodshed of innocents in Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria will only strengthen the resolve of the people in this region to resist and retaliate against its crimes, despite the extensive Western support it receives," the statement said, reaffirming Syria's unwavering support for the Palestinian cause and their legitimate rights.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani described the attacks on the Gaza school as "brutal," a clear instance of Israel's simultaneous perpetration of "genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity," and a flagrant instance of a threat against global peace and security.
The attacks once again proved that Israel is not committed to any international laws and regulations as well as moral and humanitarian principles, Kanaani said, calling on regional countries to take "decisive and firm" actions to support the Palestinians and on the UNSC to take immediate and effective actions against Israel's behaviors based on the UN Charter.
Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 were taken hostage.
The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 39,790, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Saturday. ■
