An airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza was carried out with “precise munitions” and there were no civilians in the area, an Israeli government spokesman has claimed.
At least 80 people were killed and nearly 50 others were wounded in the strike on the school compound in Gaza City on Saturday, Palestinian health authorities said.
Gaza’s Civil Emergency Service said around 100 Palestinians were killed, while charity Save The Children, which operates on the ground, said more than 100 people were killed – including children.
In an interview with Sky News, Israeli government spokesman David Mencer claimed Israeli footage showed there were no civilians in the area at the time of the strike.
Israel’s intelligence showed 19 “terrorists” were killed, he said, adding they were investigating if any “collateral damage” was caused and will apologise if that’s the case.
“We’ll always try and keep… all civilians out of harm’s way, that’s a key part of our strategy,” he told Sky News.
“But the way that Hamas and Islamic Jihad fight us, they make it inevitable that there are civilian casualties. No matter how hard we try, they make it inevitable.”
He added: “What I’m telling you is we can say categorically when we fired these precise munitions – calibrated perfectly to get precisely to the terrorists to make sure there aren’t any civilian casualties – there weren’t any other civilians in the area.”
An estimated 6,000 displaced people were sheltering in Tabeen school when it was struck by three missiles, according to a spokesperson for the Civil Defence agency, which operates under the Hamas-run government.
Mr Mencer said it was Hamas that was responsible for any civilian deaths and claimed the militants have a history of lying.
Western media should scrutinise Hamas’s “PR battle”, he suggested, but several organisations including Sky News have called on Israel to allow journalists into Gaza – a request so far refused.
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Despite repeated attempts by international media to access the territory independently, Israel has only allowed rare and limited trips under close Israeli supervision.
Mr Mencer said this was done “for the safety of journalists”.
Tamer Kirolos, a regional director for Save the Children, said the strike on Saturday was “the deadliest attack on a school since last October”.
He added it was “devastating to see the toll this has taken including so many children and people at the school for dawn prayers”.
“In times of war, there is often a ‘new normal’ but this must not be it,” he said.
“School attacks are happening at least weekly, with three in one 48-hour period last week. Even wars have laws and all parties must respect the protected status of schools and not use schools as battlegrounds.”
Gaza’s health ministry says at least 39,897 Palestinians have been killed and more than 92,000 injured in Israel’s military offensive on the enclave since 7 October.
The offensive came after Hamas insurgents stormed into southern Israel on 7 October. Israel said some 1,200 people – mostly civilians – were killed and about 250 others abducted.