Middle East crisis live: Children among 17 reported killed in strike on school in Gaza refugee camp | Israel
Israel’s military has posted to Telegram to claim that a strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza was targeting what it described as “Hamas terrorists who were operating inside a command and control centre in the area”, accusing Hamas of the “systematic abuse of civilian infrastructure in violation of international law.”
17 people have been reported dead after the strike, including children, according to Palestinian news sources.
Key events
Macron warns Netanyahu against ‘sowing barbarism’ in remarks on Lebanon
Patrick Wintour
Emmanuel Macron launched a one-day international conference on Lebanon on Thursday, announcing €100bn of French humanitarian aid and warning the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that “civilisation is not best defended by sowing barbarism ourselves”.
He also vowed to help train 6,000 extra Lebanese official forces as he called for a ceasefire and an end to Israeli attacks on UN peacekeepers, for which he said there was no justification.
The twin aims of the French president’s Paris conference are to alleviate the humanitarian suffering in Lebanon and to strengthen Lebanese state institutions including the official army.
In his opening remarks Marcon also said it was a matter of bitter regret that Iran, backers of the Hezbollah group, had “engaged Hezbollah against Israel, while Lebanon’s higher interest required that it stay away from the Gaza war”.
France is hoping to raise €460m at the conference, more than the latest UN target of €400m.
In words directed at Netanyahu, with whom his relationship has deteriorated badly, he said:
We have been talking a lot in recent days about a war of civilisations or about civilisations that must be defended. I am not sure that we defend a civilisation by sowing barbarism ourselves.”
Netanyahu had said on Europe 1 radio on Wednesday:
It is a war of civilisations against barbarism; we are at the forefront of this war and France must support Israel.”
Macron argued:
I am sure of one thing, that the possibility of a civilisation is at stake in Lebanon, that is to say the possibility for women and men whose origins are different, whose religions are different, to share the same territory and to live for the same project.”
He added:
The war must end as soon as possible. There must be a ceasefire in Lebanon. More damage, more victims, more strikes will neither put an end to terrorism nor ensure the security of all.”
A joint proposal made by France and the US remains the basis for any potential ceasefire in Lebanon, said French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot, adding that the full implementation of UN resolution 1701 was still the goal of diplomatic efforts, reports Reuters.
The resolution calls for southern Lebanon to be free of any troops or weapons other than those of the Lebanese state.
France’s top diplomat also said Lebanon must end a two-year vacuum and elect a new president, calling the lack of an elected head of state “inconceivable”.
“To preserve its unity in the face of challenges, to be represented at the negotiating table in the future, Lebanon must have a head of state,” Barrot told a news conference in Paris.
Gaza rescuers say 770 people killed in Israel assault on north
Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Thursday that more than 770 people have been killed in the north of the territory since Israel launched an assault aimed at preventing Hamas from regrouping there.
“Since the start of the military operation in northern Gaza more than 770 people have been killed,” said Mahmud Bassal, spokesperson for the territory’s civil defence agency, adding that the toll could rise as there were people buried under the rubble.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that he also said a strike on a school turned shelter in central Gaza killed 17 people, while the Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas militants when it hit the site.
The civil defence agency also said on Thursday that it can no longer provide first responder services in the north, accusing Israeli forces of threatening to “bomb and kill” its crews.
The Israeli military says the goal of its assault is to destroy the operational capabilities Hamas is trying to rebuild in the north. It has repeatedly told people to evacuate, and to do so they must pass through army-staffed checkpoints.
Images posted online and verified by AFP show crowds of Palestinians waiting to cross such checkpoints, while several Palestinians reported mistreatment or detention during the process.
Israel’s army radio reports that the IDF located two explosive devices in a cistern near the illegal Israeli settlement of Avni Hefetz, which is near Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank.
It reports the devices were destroyed and there were no casualties.
Warning sirens have again sounded in northern Israel due to the threat of rockets being fired from the direction of Lebanon. Israeli media reports that five people have been wounded so far on Thursday by shrapnel in locations across the north of the country.
France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot has said a joint proposal made by France and the US remains the basis for any potential ceasefire in Lebanon, adding that the full implementation of UN resolution 1701 was still the goal of diplomatic efforts.
Speaking to the media in Paris, Reuters reports Barrot also called for Lebanon to end a two-year power vacuum and elect a new president
It quotes him saying:
To preserve its unity in the face of challenges, to be represented at the negotiating table in the future, Lebanon must have a head of state.
UN resolution 1701 calls for southern Lebanon to be free of any troops or weapons other than those of the Lebanese state or UN peacekeeping forces. It would effectively create a buffer zone of some 30km (18 miles) between the blue line that separates Israel and Lebanon and the Litani River inside Lebanon.
Neither Israel or Hezbollah have publicly agreed to the ceasefire proposal, and some hardline members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have threated to collapse his coalition if a ceasefire is agreed with Hezbollah.
Here is a video report on the Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza. It is reported that at least 17 people, including children, were killed by the Israeli strike.
Jordan’s foreign ministry has condemned an Israeli strike on a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza, calling it “a heinous crime that is added to the war crimes committed by Israel.”
In the statement, quoted by Palestinian news agency Wafa, the ministry accused Israel of continued crimes against civilians, which it said constituted a flagrant violation of the rules of international law. The ministry added that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government did not care about what Jordan described as the international will calling for an end to the war and the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe it is causing.
Israel has claimed it was targeting a Hamas command and control centre located at the school building. 17 people are reported to have been killed by the Israeli strike, including children.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services are reporting that an 84-year-old man has been “lightly wounded by shrapnel” in northern Israel.
Reuters has a quick snap to report that France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, has said that the international conference on the Lebanon crisis response being hosted in Paris today has raised €185m (£154m / $200m).
More details soon …
Four reported killed by Israeli strike in northern Gaza
Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting that four people have been killed by an Israeli airstrike “which targeted a facility housing displaced people in the al-Maghazi refugee camp.”
Medical sources told Wafa that at least four people were killed at the Al-Maghazi Services Club.
Earlier today at least nine children were reported among 17 people killed by an Israeli strike on a school in Nuseirat refugee camp. Israel’s military has claimed it was targeting a Hamas command and control centre in the building.
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