The office of the Palestinian Authority’s president is holding the US government accountable after approximately 100 people, including at least 11 children and six women, were reportedly killed this weekend from a bombing attack in which US-provided missiles were used.
Nabih Abu Rudeineh, the spokesperson for the Palestinian presidency, condemned the attack and said the Palestinian Authority held the Biden administration “responsible for the massacre due to its financial, military, and political support for Israel,” cited a report from Common Dreams. The spokesperson also demanded that the US pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to initiate a ceasefire, and to end their own blind support of Israel.
At least 6,000 displaced Palestinians were being housed at the al-Taba’een (or Al-Tabin) school when bombs struck the school at about 4:30 AM, said Mahmoud Bassal, the Gaza civil defense spokesman. Bassal added that at least 54 people were injured in the attack and dozens went missing.
Common Dreams also reported that the bombing of the school came just hours after the US State department announced the release of $3.5 billion in military aid for Israel and also made “new weapons transfers available to help refresh the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stockpiles.”
The bombs that were used on the school weighed 2,000 pounds each, which matches the size of the MK-84 munitions that were given to the IDF from the US over the last year, Common Dreams reported, citing Qatar media which spoke to Gaza’s Government Media Office. Images posted to social media show the violent impact of the bombs, as unrecognizable limbs and other charred pieces of bodies had to be collected in bags.
"U.S. funding of Israeli genocide is ballooning as the Israeli army uses ever more lethal bombs," said Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine, in an online post on Sunday. "The ones used yesterday in the Al-Tabin School massacre sliced bodies to the point of making them unrecognizable. They are now identified by weight: 70kg bag = 1 adult. Revolting."
The IDF has said the strike was meant to target Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants which it claimed were operating a command and control node from within the school. Israel’s military has blamed Palestinian deaths on Hamas by claiming that they are using civilian lives as a human shield.
Western countries who support Israel have condemned the civilian death toll, but have also accused Hamas of using civilians as shields while pushing for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
On October 7, 2023, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. Israeli authorities say that about 1,200 people were killed during the raid. In retaliation, the IDF launched a war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since October 7 has exceeded 39,700, according to the enclave's health ministry.