'Be fully transparent': US tells Israel after airstrike kills 35
The United States has called on Israel to be "fully transparent" regarding a deadly airstrike on a United Nations (UN) school in central Gaza on Thursday, the BBC reported. The targeted airstrike, which was intended to hit up to 30 Hamas and Islamic Jihad members inside, struck the school, killing 35 people, including women and children. Gaza's Hamas-run government media office, however, denied Israel's claim that it was a "precise strike" and accused it of carrying out a "horrific massacre."
Something went wrong: State Department spokesman
Amid the contradicting claims, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller demanded an investigation into the incident. He stated that even if Israel's army intended to target Hamas terrorists, the claims of children killed in the strike "show that something went wrong." He also pointed out reports suggesting that 14 children were killed in the strike, stating, "If that is accurate that 14 children were killed, those aren't terrorists." He added, "These are all facts that need to be verified."
9 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters killed: Israel
In an almost simultaneous press briefing, Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari provided the identities of nine Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters who he claimed were killed in the strike. He stated that more would be identified after an effort to "verify the information." The new deaths came barely a week after 45 people were killed at a refugee camp in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in Israel's airstrike.
UN school shelter struck, death toll uncertain
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported that the school building in the refugee district of Nuseirat was being used as an emergency shelter when it was hit. The Israeli army claimed that 20 to 30 members of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) were believed to have been present in three classrooms at the time of the attack. The exact death toll has yet to be verified.
