Middle East: Gaza reports scores dead in school strike

The tally of people killed in three Israeli airstrikes on the school in Gaza City may well rise, with several still unaccounted for, according to DW correspondent Rebecca Ritters.

"It certainly looks as though the death toll may rise, as there are many people reportedly trapped under the rubble," she said.

The death toll given by Hamas authorities so far stands at 90-100 people.

Ritters said claims by Israel to have taken steps to avoid civilian casualties with a precise attack stood in contrast to the images emerging in the aftermath of the strikes.

She said the justification used by the Israeli military for such strikes on schools and hospitals — that such sites were being used as command centers by militants or to launch attacks on Israel — was "more often than not" supported by "very little evidence," adding that it was very difficult to verify the claims amid the ongoing conflict.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that any escalation of the war in Gaza into the broader Middle East would be counterproductive for all involved.

"The Secretary reaffirmed the United States' ironclad commitment to Israel's security and discussed how escalation is in no party's interest," the State Department said in a statement released after a phone call between the two.

Blinken stressed the "urgent need to reach a cease-fire in Gaza" that could release hostages held in the enclave and "create the conditions for broader regional stability," the statement added.

 Fears of a full-fledged regional war in the Middle East have grown since the recent killings of Palestinian Islamist group Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Hezbollah military commander Fouad Shukr in Lebanon.

The two deaths have drawn threats of retaliation against Israel, notably from Iran, although that country was not explicitly mentioned in the statement. 
 

Authorities in Gaza said an Israeli strike on a Gaza City school being used as a shelter for displaced people killed dozens early on Saturday. 

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported between 90 and 100 dead, and Gaza civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told the AFP news agency that the death toll was between 90 and 100. 

The civil defense agency spoke of a "horrific massacre" and said some bodies caught fire.

Bassal said three Israeli rockets hit the facility in Daraj in eastern Gaza City. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), meanwhile, said it had struck "terrorists operating within a Hamas command and control center embedded within" a school. 

The IDF accused Hamas of "systematically" using civilians "as a human shield for terrorist activity." It also claimed that it had taken several steps to try to limit the possibility of civilian casualties. 

The area, near a mosque in the Daraj district of eastern Gaza City, was being used as a shelter for displaced Palestinians. 

US Central Command said in an update online that its forces destroyed an Iranian-backed Houthi missile launcher and an uncrewed surface vessel in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Friday. 

It also said its forces destroyed two uncrewed aerial vehicles, over the Red Sea. 

"These weapons presented a clear and imminent threat to US and coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region," CENTCOM said.

CENTCOM is operating in the area to try to prevent Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, which the group says is a response to Israel's military campaign in Gaza. 

tj,msh/sms,ab (AP, AFP, Reuters, DPA)