Israeli strike on Gaza school threatens cease-fire and hostage talks

An Israeli strike that hit a school in Gaza over the weekend, killing about 100 people, Palestinian officials say, has endangered upcoming cease-fire and hostage release talks between Israel and Hamas.

Israel says it targeted the Al-Tabaeen School in Gaza City on Saturday because Hamas fighters were sheltering there, but the strike has fueled concern in Washington and is threatening to undo U.S. progress toward a negotiated deal.

Talks were scheduled to continue Thursday after President Biden joined the leaders of Qatar and Egypt last week in urging Israel and Hamas to meet in Cairo or Doha and wrap up the final phases of the long-awaited deal.

Hamas said in a statement on Telegram it agreed to an updated proposal on the deal July 2, but that new demands from Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicates his country wants to keep fighting in Gaza rather than negotiate.

The strike on the school is a “heinous crime,” Hamas added, calling on the U.S. and other mediators to compel Israel to agree to the July 2 proposal rather than “provide cover” for more attacks in Gaza.

Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas leader, told a Lebanon channel Monday that Israel “wants to escape the obligations of a cease-fire,” reiterating his support for the proposal already on the table instead of more talks.

“There is a document that we have already agreed on,” he said. “We are waiting for the announcement of implementation mechanisms, including the cessation of aggression, withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces, aid delivery, and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip.”

The Israeli military claimed Hamas was holding fighters at the school, a charge the Palestinian militant group has denied.

“There have been a confirmed 31 terrorists eliminated in the strike on the Hamas stronghold in the Al-Taba’een school, where the terrorists planned to execute attacks against Israel,” the Israeli military said in a post on the social platform X.

Military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a video address that forces targeted one specific building in the compound with precise weapons where women and children were not present.

Still, the Israeli strike on Al-Tabaeen has led to more international condemnation of Israel’s war in Gaza, where nearly 40,000 Palestinians have died in more than 10 months of war.

The United Nations Human Rights Office said people were gathering at the school for morning prayer when the strike hit, and that women and children were present. The U.N. says Israel has since July carried out 21 strikes on schools, which have served as shelters during the war.

In the U.S., White House national security council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement Saturday it was “deeply concerned” about the Israeli strike and “asking for further details,” adding that a cease-fire and hostage release deal was now more urgent than ever.

The cease-fire and hostage release deal, presented by Biden and backed by the U.N., includes the exchange of the most vulnerable of the 115 hostages held by Hamas in return for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, a temporary cease-fire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from densely populated areas of Gaza. A second phase would work toward a lasting cease-fire and the release of all hostages.

The talks scheduled for later this week could also be threatened by Iran, which has vowed to respond to Israel for a bombing about two weeks ago in Tehran that killed a top Hamas leader.