Israel airstrike on school compound sheltering displaced Gazans kills over 90

Israel has issued evacuation orders in southern Gaza as the military is preparing to launch another attack in the area, claiming that Hamas fighters are operating there.

This comes after an airstrike on a school compound killed 93 people, according to rescuers.

The evacuation order in Khan Younis in southern Gaza covered districts in the centre, east and west.

"For your own safety, you must evacuate immediately to the newly created humanitarian zone. The area you are in is considered a dangerous combat zone," the announcement read, as quoted by Reuters and Al Jazeera.

Claimed to attack Hamas

The evacuation order was made just days after Israel on Saturday (Aug. 10) launched an airstrike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, killing 93 people, according to local officials.

The Israeli military said it was attacking militants from Hamas, claiming that the school was being used as a command and control centre by the organisation.

The Israeli military claimed it killed 19 militants in the airstrike, while Hamas claimed there was not a single combatant among the dead.

Women, children & elderly killed in one of the deadliest attacks: Gaza officials

The airstrike has been deemed as one of the deadliest attacks since the Israel-Hamas war started.

Some 350 families who were displaced as a result of the war were using the school as a shelter.

The attack occurred while occupants of the building were performing dawn prayers, starting a fire that spread through the building.

Among the dead were reportedly women, children, and elderly, said Palestinian civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal.

No women & children present during airstrike: IDF

Meanwhile, Daniel Hagari, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed in a video statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) that no women and children were present in the building during the airstrike.

Hagari said Hamas has "focused on exploiting school buildings, often where civilians are sheltering inside, to use them as military facilities, command, and control centres, for storing weapons, and to execute terror attacks".

He added that the military "took numerous steps to mitigate the risk to civilians".

The head of Gaza's Government Media Office, however, told Al Jazeera that Israel was aware displaced civilians were sheltering inside the school.

"We cannot let the unbearable become a new norm"

US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement that Hamas has been operating out of schools, but "we have also said repeatedly and consistently that Israel must take measures to minimize civilian harm".

"We are deeply concerned about reports of civilian casualties in Gaza following [the airstrike]," said Savett, calling for a ceasefire and a hostage deal.

The airstrike on Aug. 10 took place just a day after the U.S. said it would provide Israel US$3.5 billion (S$4.6 billion) to spend on U.S. weapons and military equipment after Congress appropriated the funds a few months prior.

Several countries have condemned the airstrike, including Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and France.

Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near Easts (UNRWA), called for an end to the "horrors unfolding under our watch”.

"We cannot let the unbearable become a new norm," he posted on X (formerly Twitter).

“The more recurrent, the more we lose our collective humanity."

No safe zones

Nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7, 2023, Reuters reported, citing the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

The IDF, since entering Gaza, have lost 329 soldiers.

According to an update by the United Nations dated Jul. 5, 2024, about 1.9 million people in Gaza are internally displaced. There are about 2.1 million people in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian and United Nations officials say that nowhere is safe in Gaza.

Areas which have been previously marked as designated humanitarian zones like Al Mawasi in western Khan Younis where civilians were being sent have been bombed several times by the Israeli military.

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Top image via UNRWA/Facebook