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Israel's military carried out an airstrike Thursday on a U.N. school in central Gaza, where Palestinian health officials said at least 33 people were killed.
The Israel Defense Forces said Hamas fighters who participated in the October 7 attack against Israel were using the school as shelter and "directed terror" from the site.
The Hamas media office rejected Israel's statement and said Israeli forces had carried out a "brutal crime" against displaced people and said 23 women and children are among the dead.
Israeli military spokesperson Lt Col. Peter Lerner told reporters that Israel was not aware of any civilian casualties.
The strike occurred at a school run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in Nuseirat.
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the U.N. relief agency, described the scene as "another horrific day in Gaza."
He said on the X social media platform that Israel launched the attack without warning, neither to the 6,000 displaced Palestinians staying there, nor to the U.N. agency.
Lazzarini said that the U.N. agency has shared the coordinates of all its Gaza buildings with the Israeli military, including the one hit Thursday, but that even so, 180 of them have been hit during the nearly eight-month war and more than 450 people have been killed in the attacks.
He said the U.N. relief agency could not verify the Israeli claim that Hamas fighters were using the school as a shelter. He said "targeting U.N. premises or using them for military purposes cannot become the new norm. This must stop and all those responsible must be held accountable."
Nearly a week after U.S. President Joe Biden publicly detailed a proposed six-week cease-fire in Gaza, the United States and 16 other nations issued a joint statement Thursday expressing their support for the deal.
"We call on Hamas to close this agreement, that Israel is ready to move forward with, and begin the process of releasing our citizens," the statement said.
The proposal includes the release of some of the hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, a surge in humanitarian aid for Palestinians and calls for continued negotiations aimed at achieving a permanent cease-fire.
The joint statement said it is time for the war to end.
"At this decisive moment, we call on the leaders of Israel as well as Hamas to make whatever final compromises are necessary to close this deal and bring relief to the families of our hostages, as well as those on both sides of this terrible conflict, including the civilian populations," it said.
Aside from the U.S., Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain and Thailand signed the statement.
Hamas launched the October 7 terror attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and capturing about 250 hostages. Hamas is holding about 120 of the hostages in Gaza, although the Israeli military says 37 of them are dead.
Israel's retaliatory bombardments and ground offensive have killed at least 36,600 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The United Nations, in a report released on Wednesday, warned that at least 1 million Palestinians will reach the highest level of starvation by mid-July. The heavy restrictions on the flow of food, water, fuel and medical aid are worsening the situation in Gaza, particularly in northern Gaza, the World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization said in their joint report.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.