Gaza City: An independent UN-appointed expert accused Israel of committing "genocide" in its Gaza war after an Israeli strike targeting a school on Saturday killed 93 people, according to local rescuers.
"Israel is genociding the Palestinians one neighbourhood at the time, one hospital at the time, one school at the time, one refugee camp at the time, one safe zone at the time," Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights situation in Palestinian territories, said on social media platform X.
Hamas denounced the "dangerous escalation" in north Gaza, which came after international mediators invited the warring sides to resume next Thursday talks towards a long-sought ceasefire and hostage-release deal.
Calls for urgent probe
The foreign ministry of Qatar said it renews the Gulf emirate's "demand for an urgent international investigation, including the dispatch of independent UN investigators, to ascertain the facts regarding the Israeli occupation forces' continued targeting of schools and shelters for displaced persons".
Jordan's foreign ministry also said the timing of the school strike "is an indication of the Israeli government's efforts to obstruct and thwart these efforts."
‘Bodies ripped to pieces’
Civil defence in the Hamas-ruled territory said three Israeli missiles hit the school in Gaza City while people performed dawn prayers.
"Their bodies were torn apart," civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP. "It reminds us of the first days of the war in the Gaza Strip."
With most of Gaza's 2.4 million people displaced during the war started by Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel, many have sought refuge in school buildings, which have been hit at least 14 times since July 6, according to an AFP tally.
Israel's army said Saturday it had "precisely struck Hamas operating within a Hamas command and control centre embedded in the Al Tabieen school".
The military has repeatedly made similar accusations after strikes on the school shelters. Hamas has previously denied Israeli claims that it uses schools, hospitals and other civilian facilities for military aims.
Engulfed by fire
Saturday's strike in north Gaza came after the military on Friday said troops were operating around Khan Yunis, the southern Gaza city from which soldiers had withdrawn in April after months of fierce fighting with Hamas.
The Gaza war has already drawn in Iran-aligned groups around the region. Fears of a broader Middle East war have surged following vows of vengeance from Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, Hamas, Iran and others for the killing of two senior militants, including Hamas's political leader.
The killing last week of Hamas's Ismail Haniyeh during a visit to Tehran had sidelined truce talks. Iran and Hamas blamed Israel, which has not directly commented.
Iran's mission to the United Nations on Saturday said the Islamic republic has "the legitimate right to self-defence" after its sovereignty was "violated".
"However, we hope that our response will be timed and conducted in a manner not to the detriment of the potential ceasefire," it said.
Haniyeh's death came hours after an Israeli strike on south Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, the military chief of Hezbollah. Israel said this was in response to rocket fire that killed children and teens in the Golan Heights.
Hamas ally Hezbollah has been trading near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces.
On Friday an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the south Lebanon city of Sidon killed a Hamas commander, the Palestinian group and the Israeli military said.
AFPTV images showed the car engulfed by fire. It was the first strike of its kind in Sidon during the Gaza war.
