Rescue workers in the Gaza Strip said an Israeli airstrike on a school housing displaced Palestinians killed more than 100 people on Saturday, sparking international condemnation of Israel.

The shelling of the Al-Tabeen school and mosque sparked criticism across the Middle East and beyond, as well as calls for a ceasefire after international mediators urged the warring sides to resume talks on a long-sought truce and the release of the hostages.

Civil defense rescue workers said three Israeli rockets hit the complex in Gaza City while people were performing their morning prayers.

“They dropped a rocket on them while they were praying,” said a woman mourning the dead of a child wrapped in a plastic bag.

The Israeli military claimed it had hit Al-Tabeen “precisely.” Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani added on the social media platform X that it was home to a “military facility” with “approximately 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters,” including commanders.

Hamas condemned the “dangerous escalation,” while the Palestinian group’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah called it a “horrific massacre.”

Iran, which supports both groups and had accused Israel of wanting to spread a war in the Middle East after the spectacular killings in Tehran and Beirut, condemned the “barbaric attack”.

“Everyone in the mosque was killed,” said local resident Abu Wassim. “Even the floor above, where women and children were sleeping, was completely burned down.”

Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for civil defense, said: AFP that “bodies were torn to pieces. It reminds us of the first days of the war in Gaza.”

Almost all of the 2.4 million people in Gaza have been displaced at least once during the war. Many have sought refuge in school buildings, which, according to a AFP match.

Israel made similar allegations of armed actions following attacks on school shelters, while Hamas denies using civilian facilities for military purposes.

“Unbearable” victims

The attack left dead and injured on the ground floor of the two-story courtyard complex, which was littered with debris inside and out. AFPTV Pictures shown.

The upper floor was partially blown out and charred.

Bassal said at a press conference that among those killed in the school shelter were 11 children and six women, “and that there are many unidentified body parts.”

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said the timing was indicative of Israel’s efforts to “obstruct and thwart” recent mediation efforts.

One of the mediators, Qatar, called for an “urgent international investigation,” while Turkey denounced a “new crime against humanity” and claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to “sabotage the ceasefire talks.”

According to the Gaza Strip Health Ministry, at least 39,790 people have been killed by Israel’s brutal military campaign in Gaza, which has been at war for more than ten months.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was “horrified” by the school strike.

France said: “Israel must respect international humanitarian law.”

“For several weeks, school buildings have been repeatedly attacked, with an intolerable number of civilian casualties,” the French Foreign Ministry said.

Britain’s top diplomat David Lammy told X: “We need an immediate ceasefire to protect civilians, release all hostages and lift restrictions on aid.”

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, again accused Israel of committing “genocide” against the Palestinians.

Israel had previously accused the independent expert of presenting an “obscene reversal of reality.”

Measured reaction

Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday that Israel would send negotiators following a joint invitation from the United States, Egypt and Qatar “to determine the details of implementing an agreement.”

Hamas officials and some analysts and critics in Israel said Netanyahu wanted to prolong the fighting for political reasons.

The mediators urged the warring parties to resume talks on August 15, following intensive diplomatic efforts in recent days to prevent a regional conflagration.

The Gaza conflict has already involved Iranian-allied groups across the region, but fears of a wider war have grown following the killing of two senior fighters, including Hamas’s political leader, in attacks blamed on Israel.

Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and others have vowed retaliation.

The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas on July 31 during a visit to Tehran had stalled the ceasefire talks. Iran and Hamas blamed Israel, which did not comment directly on the matter.

The Palestinian group, which has not yet officially responded to the mediators’ invitation, has appointed its Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar as Haniyeh’s successor.

The Iranian mission to the United Nations said on Saturday that the Islamic Republic had “the legitimate right to self-defense” after its sovereignty had been “violated.”

“We hope, however, that our response will be timely and in a manner that will not harm a possible ceasefire,” it said.