EU urges independent investigation of Israel's deadly attack on school-turned-shelter

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The EU foreign policy chief on Thursday called for an independent investigation after dozens of people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza.

"Reports coming from Gaza time and again show that violence and suffering are still the only reality for hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians," said Josep Borrell.

"This appalling news must be independently investigated, in line with (the) last International Court of Justice order," he urged.

Underlining that an enduring cease-fire is "the only way" forward to protect civilians and get to the immediate release of all hostages, he said, "Both parties must agree on the US three-phase plan now," referring to a plan announced last week by US President Joe Biden.

At least 39 displaced Palestinians were killed on Thursday in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering thousands of displaced people in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, according to Gaza authorities.

On Friday, Biden said Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a cease-fire, a hostage-prisoner exchange, and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, said Monday that he was “not ready to stop" the war on Gaza, calling Biden's remarks about the cease-fire proposal “inaccurate.”

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Some 36,600 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 83,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nearly eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.