Israeli Strike Kills Dozens at Former School Where Civilians Were Sheltering: Live Updates - The New York Times

Live Updates: Israeli Strike Kills Dozens at Former School Where Civilians Were Sheltering

"The Israeli military said it had targeted Hamas operatives at a U.N.-run school complex. Palestinian officials said the dead included women, children and older people.

Updated 

June 6, 2024, 11:25 a.m. ET3 minutes ago

1. 

   Clearing debris at a former U.N. school complex in Nuseirat, in central Gaza, where dozens of people were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

   Mohammed Saber/EPA, via Shutterstock

2. Thousands of displaced Palestinians had been sheltering at the school. Israel’s military said the strike targeted Hamas operatives. 

   Bashar Taleb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

3. The bodies of more than 40 people, including those of children, were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby city of Deir al Balah. 

   Eyad Baba/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

4. A funeral for some of the dead in Deir al Balah. 

   Doaa Rouqa/Reuters

5. A U.N. official said that 6,000 Palestinians had been sheltering at the school complex. 

   Abed Khaled/Reuters

6. At play among downed power lines in Al Maghazi, in central Gaza, where Israel is combating what it says is a renewed Hamas insurgency.

   Eyad Baba/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

7. Israeli soldiers cleaning the gun barrel on a tank near the border with Gaza, on Wednesday.

   Amir Cohen/Reuters

Pinned

An Israeli airstrike early Thursday hit a United Nations school complex in central Gaza that had become a shelter for thousands of displaced Palestinians, killing dozens of people. Israel’s military said the attack had targeted Hamas operatives. Palestinian officials said it had killed civilians.

The strike, in Nuseirat, was the latest in a deadly surge in fighting in central Gaza, where Israeli forces have announced an offensive against what they describe as a renewed insurgency by Hamas militants.

June 6, 2024, 11:17 a.m. ET

Josep Borrell Fontelles, the European Union’s top diplomat, called for an independent investigation into the Israeli strike on the former U.N. school complex in Nuseirat, noting an International Court of Justice ruling had ordered Israeli forces not to take actions deemed genocidal under international law. “This appalling news must be independently investigated,” he said. Israel claims it was targeting militants hiding at the school, not civilians sheltering there.

June 6, 2024, 11:01 a.m. ET

Of the 40 dead in the strike registered by Gaza’s health ministry, 14 were children and nine were women, the ministry said.

Nuseirat

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June 6, 2024, 10:30 a.m. ET

Spain will ask to join South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, the Spanish foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, announced on Thursday, according to the Reuters news agency. Ireland, Turkey, Egypt and several other countries have previously said they would support the case. In response to an urgent request from South Africa, the court last month ordered Israel to halt its military offensive in Rafah, though the I.C.J. has few means of enforcing its order. 

June 6, 2024, 9:55 a.m. ET

Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the bodies of more than 40 people killed in the attack have been brought, is now the only functioning hospital in central Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and has been operating at three times its normal capacity. Health authorities in central Gaza estimate that the hospital has been handling services for one million people.

June 6, 2024, 9:56 a.m. ET

The number of people in central Gaza, particularly in Deir al Balah, where the hospital is located, has swelled as hundreds of thousand of Gazans escaped fighting in the southern city of Rafah, once the main hub for people sheltering from the war.

June 6, 2024, 9:39 a.m. ET

Israeli forces similarly attacked the same compound on May 14, killing at least six people and wounding others, UNRWA said. The Israeli military said it had killed at least 15 militants, including 10 Hamas members, in an attack against a “war room” used by militant commanders in the complex.

June 6, 2024, 9:30 a.m. ET

The White House and the leaders of 16 other countries put pressure on Hamas and Israel on Thursday to move ahead with a cease-fire on terms outlined last week by President Biden. “We call on Hamas to close this agreement, that Israel is ready to move forward with,” they said in a joint statement. Neither Israel nor Hamas has said definitively that they would accept or reject the proposal amid disagreements over fundamental issues.

June 6, 2024, 9:20 a.m. ET

Philippe Lazzarini, the director of UNRWA, wrote on social media that 6,000 Palestinians were sheltering at the school complex when the strike took place. At least 35 people were killed and “many more injured,” he said.

An Israeli airstrike hit a United Nations school complex in central Gaza that had become a shelter for thousands of displaced Palestinians, killing dozens of people, officials said early Thursday. 

Israel’s military said the attack had targeted Hamas operatives. Palestinian officials said it had killed civilians. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Wednesday threatened further military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon, amid growing talk of another full-scale war, even as Israel fights Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Two days after Hezbollah militants launched a barrage of rockets and exploding drones from Lebanon into northern Israel, igniting several wildfires, Mr. Netanyahu visited soldiers and firefighters in the area, and said the Israeli military was ready to strike.

An Israeli tank near the Israel-Gaza border on Tuesday.Amir Cohen/Reuters

President Biden raised hopes last week when he endorsed a plan that he said could lead to a “cessation of hostilities permanently.” He said Israel had put forward the plan, but neither Israel nor Hamas has said definitively that they would accept or reject the proposal, and they appear to still be locked in disagreement over fundamental issues.

Here’s a look at what is known about the cease-fire deal, which key points still must be negotiated, and the hurdles still ahead:"

Israeli Strike Kills Dozens at Former School Where Civilians Were Sheltering: Live Updates - The New York Times