DUBAI: The UAE alongside European Union and United Nations officials, has condemned Israel's airstrike on Al-Tabin school in eastern Gaza.
The attack killed almost 100 civilians and left many more injured.The UAE Foreign Ministry expressed its firm rejection of attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, Emirates News Agency reported.
The ministry highlighted the urgent need for the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian, relief and medical aid to the Palestinian people.
Saturday’s airstrike marks the 14th school hit in Gaza since July 6.
The ministry repeated its call for an immediate ceasefire to prevent further casualties, stressing the importance of protecting civilians and civilian institutions in accordance with international law.
The UAE also urged the international community to intensify efforts to prevent further escalation in the occupied Palestinian territories and to pursue all possible avenues toward a comprehensive and just peace.
Meanwhile, an independent UN-appointed expert accused Israel of committing “genocide” in its Gaza war after the strike.“Israel is genociding the Palestinians one neighborhood at a time, one hospital at a time, one school at a time, one refugee camp at a time, one safe zone at a time,” Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, said on X.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said the images from the shelter school in Gaza that was hit by an Israeli strike, with dozens of Palestinian victims, were "horrifying".
He added: "At least 10 schools have been targeted in recent weeks, there is no justification for these massacres, and we are appalled at the terrible death toll," Borrell said on X.
"More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, and a ceasefire is the only way to stop the killing of civilians and secure the release of prisoners."
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the UN Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said the world woke up to another day of horror in Gaza, following the bombing of another school and reports of dozens of dead Palestinians, including women, children and the elderly.
"Schools, our facilities and civilian infrastructure must not be targeted, and parties to the conflict must protect them."
He stressed that it was time to end these atrocities that wre unfolding, adding: "We cannot allow these events to become normalized, the more they repeat, the more we lose our collective humanity."
