An Israeli attack that hit a school in Gaza over the weekend, killing about 100 people, Palestinian officials say, has put upcoming ceasefire and hostage release negotiations between Israel and Hamas at risk.
Israel says it targeted Al-Tabaeen School in Gaza City on Saturday because Hamas fighters were sheltering there, but the attack has fueled concern in Washington and threatens to undo U.S. progress toward a negotiated settlement. .
Negotiations were scheduled to continue on Thursday after President Biden joined the leaders of Qatar and Egypt last week to urge Israel and Hamas to meet in Cairo or Doha and wrap up the final phases of the long-awaited agreement.
Hamas said in a statement on Telegram that it agreed to an updated proposal on the deal on July 2, but that new demands from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicate that his country wants to continue fighting in Gaza rather than to negotiate.
The school attack is a “heinous crime,” Hamas added, calling on the US and other mediators to force Israel to agree to the July 2 proposal, rather than “providing cover” for more attacks in Gaza.
Osama Hamdan, a prominent leader of Hamas, told a Lebanese channel Monday that Israel “wants to escape the obligations of a ceasefire”, reiterating its support for the proposal already on the table instead of further talks.
“There is a document that we have already agreed to,” he said. “We are awaiting the announcement of implementation mechanisms, including the cessation of aggression, the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces, the delivery of aid and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip.”
The Israeli military alleged that Hamas held fighters at the school, an accusation the Palestinian militant group denied.
“31 terrorists were confirmed to have been eliminated in the attack on the Hamas stronghold at Al-Taba’een school, where the terrorists planned to carry out attacks against Israel,” the Israeli military said in a statement. post on social platform
Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a video address that forces attacked a specific building in the complex with precise weapons, where women and children were not present.
Still, the Israeli attack on Al-Tabaeen led to greater international condemnation of Israel’s war in Gaza, where nearly 40,000 Palestinians have died in more than 10 months of war.
The United Nations Human Rights Office Said people were gathering at school for morning prayer when the strike began, and that women and children were present. The UN says that since July Israel has carried out 21 attacks on schools, which served as shelters during the war.
In the US, White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement on Saturday that she was “deeply concerned” about the Israeli attack and “requesting more details”, adding that a ceasefire agreement and Hostage release was now more urgent than ever.
The ceasefire and hostage release agreement, presented by Biden and supported by the UN, includes the exchange of the most vulnerable of the 115 hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons, a temporary ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from densely populated areas of Gaza. A second phase would aim for a lasting ceasefire and the release of all hostages.
The talks scheduled for the end of this week could also be threatened by Iran, which has promised to respond to Israel for a bomb attack about two weeks ago in Tehran that killed an important Hamas leader.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
