Israel bombs another school in Gaza, a day after strike on school killed 37

In latest offensive, Israel bombed another UN-run school in Gaza on Friday (June 7), a day after strike on school that killed 37 people.

The Israeli airstrike killed three people, according to Palestinian emergency officials. In both airstrikes, the Israeli army said Hamas militants were operating from within the schools.  However the claims could not be verified.

Also read: Israel reacts after inclusion in UN list of shame for children's rights abuse

On Friday, Israel released the names of 17 militants it claimed were killed in Thursday’s strike. However, hospital morgue records matched only nine of these names. According to hospital records, one of the alleged militants was an eight-year-old boy.

On Thursday (June 6) an Israeli strike hit a school operated by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, in the Nuseirat area of central Gaza where thousands of displaced people were sheltering.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital informed that at least 37 people were killed in the strike.

"Since the targeted strike the Israeli army has confirmed the identity of 17 terrorists that were operating from the school," the military said in a statement.

It is worth mentioning that US called on Israel to maintain complete transparency regarding the airstrike on Thursday. The US had asked Israel to identify publicly the Hamas fighters it said it had killed.

However the Hamas media office accused the Israeli army of spreading "false information", claiming that three people presented as dead by Israel were still alive and that at least two had been killed in other strikes, adding the attack on the school had also killed 14 children.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari had earlier said that nine militants were killed when fighter jets attacked three classrooms in the school.

About 30 militants from Islamic Jihad and Hamas were hiding there, he said.

The UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said the strike had been carried out "without prior warning".

“UNRWA shares the coordinates of all its facilities (including this school) with the Israeli army and other parties in the conflict,” he said.

" Attacking, targeting, or using UN buildings for military purposes is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law," Lazzarini said.

The attack came at a moment while talks are on for a ceasefire that would involve releasing hostages held by Hamas and some of the Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

The US issued a joint statement with other countries calling on Israel and Hamas to compromise to finalise a deal after eight months of war in the Gaza Strip.

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed Al-Ansari, stated that Hamas had not yet responded to the latest ceasefire proposal and was still reviewing it. He added that mediation efforts by Qatar, Egypt, and the US are ongoing.

The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally.

While Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 36,731 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.