GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center) The Hamas Movement has condemned the Israeli army’s bombing of Al-Arqam School as a “heinous massacre”, describing it as yet another atrocity in Israel’s ongoing campaign of genocide against civilians in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement issued on Thursday evening, Hamas asserted that this deliberate targeting of innocent civilians forms part of a broader pattern of war crimes, including massacres, forced displacement, starvation tactics, and the closure of crossings to basic life-saving supplies.
These acts, the statement said, represent the hallmarks of genocide as defined under international law, committed by what it called the “fascist Netanyahu government” under the criminal political and military cover of the United States. The Movement accused the US administration of being a direct accomplice in the commission of these crimes.
Hamas also criticized what it described as the unjustifiable international inaction in the face of Israel’s atrocities, saying it reflects the collapse of the international system of values and law, which, despite its lofty rhetoric, has failed to act in the face of mass killings in Gaza, carried out in full view of the world.
The Movement called on international actors, including Arab and Islamic states, to break their silence and take immediate action to halt the massacres of civilians and the escalating humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. It further urged the prosecution of Israeli war criminals and insisted on the necessity of ending impunity for those responsible.
The Government Media Office in Gaza has condemned the heinous crime committed by Israeli forces in their bombing of Al-Arqam School in Gaza City, which left 29 civilians dead, including 18 children, a woman, and an elderly man, and injured over 100 others. The statement held the United States and other complicit states fully responsible for the continuation of genocidal massacres against civilians in the Gaza Strip.
In a press release issued on Thursday, the Media Office stated that this massacre is yet another entry in Israel’s long-standing record of war crimes and acts of genocide, highlighting that Israel has so far targeted 229 displacement and shelter centers, in blatant violation of international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, which guarantees protection for civilians during armed conflict.
The statement further emphasized that this ongoing Israeli aggression is taking place amid an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, with the health system on the verge of collapse due to the destruction of hospitals and the continued blockade, severely hampering efforts to provide emergency medical care to the wounded.
The Media Office called on the international community, the United Nations, and all human rights and humanitarian organizations to uphold their legal and moral obligations by immediately condemning these brutal Israeli massacres, ending complicity in such crimes, and exerting pressure on Israel to halt its attacks on civilians in Gaza.
At least 29 Palestinians were killed and scores more injured on Thursday evening after Israeli forces targeted Dar Al-Arqam School, which was sheltering displaced families in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood, northeast of Gaza City. The attack marks yet another massacre in the ongoing series of grave violations against civilians in the Gaza Strip.
According to Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Gaza Civil Defense, the Israeli military deliberately struck the school, leading to a massacre that left dozens dead and wounded.
Civil defense teams in Gaza Governorate have since retrieved the bodies of 29 victims, while more than 100 others were injured, in what is being described as a brutal and direct assault on a protected civilian facility.
The targeting of displacement shelters, including schools, constitutes a serious breach of international humanitarian law, particularly the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit attacks on civilian infrastructure and facilities designated for the protection of displaced populations. The incident underscores the urgent need for accountability and international action to halt Israel’s ongoing attacks on civilians in Gaza.
