US urges Israel to be transparent over Gaza school strike
Watch Now >>
The US has told Israel it must be fully "transparent" over an air strike that reportedly killed at least 35 people at a central Gaza school packed with displaced people on Thursday morning.
Local journalists told the BBC a warplane had fired two missiles at classrooms on the top floor of the school in the Nuseirat urban refugee camp. The Israeli military said it had conducted a "precise" strike on a "Hamas compound" in the school, but Gaza’s Hamas-run government media office denied the claim. The US called on Israel to identify publicly the Hamas fighters it said it had killed - just as the Israeli military gave the names of nine of them.
Israel frequently identifies militants it targets in air strikes but it is rare for the US to urge it to do so. The Israelis “told us there were 20 to 30 militants they were targeting [and] they’re going to release the names of those they believe they’ve killed, those militants”, US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. “That is what they have said they would provide. We expect them to do that, as well as any other details that would shed light on this incident." In a near-simultaneous news briefing, Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari gave the names of nine Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters he said had been killed in the strike. He said more would be identified after work to “verify the information”.
In Washington, Mr Miller said the US has seen reports that 14 children were killed in the strike. "If that is accurate that 14 children were killed, those aren’t terrorists," he said. "And so the government of Israel has said they are going to release more information about this strike... We expect them to be fully transparent in making that information public.” The latest deaths come just a week after 45 people were killed in an Israeli strike in the Gazan city of Rafah.
Local journalists told the BBC a warplane had fired two missiles at classrooms on the top floor of the school in the Nuseirat urban refugee camp. The Israeli military said it had conducted a "precise" strike on a "Hamas compound" in the school, but Gaza’s Hamas-run government media office denied the claim. The US called on Israel to identify publicly the Hamas fighters it said it had killed - just as the Israeli military gave the names of nine of them.
Israel frequently identifies militants it targets in air strikes but it is rare for the US to urge it to do so. The Israelis “told us there were 20 to 30 militants they were targeting [and] they’re going to release the names of those they believe they’ve killed, those militants”, US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. “That is what they have said they would provide. We expect them to do that, as well as any other details that would shed light on this incident." In a near-simultaneous news briefing, Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari gave the names of nine Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters he said had been killed in the strike. He said more would be identified after work to “verify the information”.
In Washington, Mr Miller said the US has seen reports that 14 children were killed in the strike. "If that is accurate that 14 children were killed, those aren’t terrorists," he said. "And so the government of Israel has said they are going to release more information about this strike... We expect them to be fully transparent in making that information public.” The latest deaths come just a week after 45 people were killed in an Israeli strike in the Gazan city of Rafah.
