Israel’s attack on a shelter school condemned

China’s UN envoy on Tuesday “strongly condemned” Israel’s attack on a school housing displaced people in Gaza City.

Three Israeli rockets hit the Al-Taba’een school on Saturday, where many displaced Palestinians were seeking shelter and attending dawn prayers. More than 100 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in the attack, the press office of the Hamas-led Gaza government said.

Israel said it targeted the school because Hamas fighters were sheltering there.

“China strongly condemns the attack,” Fu Cong, China’s permanent representative to the UN, said at the Security Council meeting on Tuesday to discuss the attack.

“Civilians and civilian infrastructure should never be the target of military action – this is a red line defined by international humanitarian law. Repeated attacks on schools, where large numbers of civilians seek refuge, are appalling,” Fu said.

He said that over the past 10 months, millions of people in Gaza have had their homes destroyed and families torn apart, forcing them to move from place to place in search of safety, only to face shelling and the threat constant with death. .

“There is no safe haven left in Gaza,” Fu said.

Three schools in Gaza City were hit within 48 hours between August 3 and 4 and two schools were hit on August 8, with Saturday’s Al-Taba’een being the latest such attack, according to Lisa Doughten, director of the funding and partnerships at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

At least 21 schools in Gaza, all serving as shelters, were attacked, resulting in at least 274 deaths, according to the UN Human Rights Office. Saturday’s strike was one of the deadliest at a school housing displaced people since the conflict began, Doughten said.

Fu urged the US to push Israel to end its military operations in Gaza as “Israel’s largest arms supplier”.

“An immediate and lasting ceasefire is the urgent hope of the people of Gaza and a strong consensus within the international community,” he said, noting that the council two months ago adopted the first ceasefire resolution and the US had said that Israel had accepted a cease-fire agreement.

“But the reality is exactly the opposite. We have seen no credible sign of Israel committing to a ceasefire; instead, there is an escalation of military actions and an increase in civilian casualties,” Fu said.

“We urge the US to act with sincerity and responsibility by pushing Israel to halt its military operations in Gaza and end the killing of civilians as soon as possible,” he said.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said last week that it could be “justified and moral” to starve 2 million people in Gaza to free the Israeli hostages.

Fu condemned the statement, calling it “appalling” and “completely unacceptable”. “Hunger should never be used as a weapon; humanitarian issues should not be politicized; and civilian lives should not be bargaining chips,” he said.

He then called on Israel to meet its “international humanitarian obligations, open all border crossings and ensure the rapid, large-scale and safe delivery of humanitarian aid.”

Separately, last week, Israeli surveillance footage showed Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee in Sde Teiman prison.

Fu said China was “gravely concerned” about the incident and called for an investigation and accountability.

“China urges Israel to immediately stop all settlement activities, effectively stop the escalation of settler violence, and stop undermining the foundation of the two-state solution,” Fu continued.

He reiterated that the two-state solution “is the only viable way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. China supports the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and advocates the convening of a larger, more authoritative and effective international conference,” he said.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres also condemned the attacks on Gaza schools on Monday.

“The Secretary-General condemns the continued loss of life in Gaza, including women and children, as we witness another devastating Israeli strike on the Al-Taba’een school in Gaza City, housing hundreds of displaced Palestinian families, with dozens of deaths, amid ongoing horror, displacement and suffering in Gaza,” said UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq.

Violence in Gaza has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians and injured more than 90,000 others, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.